


Don't Hug Me I'm a Fantasy

by thebatjokesonyou



Category: Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (Webseries)
Genre: And Lilly his sweet baby naga daughter, Collin the socially awkward inventor, D&D inspired plant creatures, F/M, Fantasy AU, Harry and Robin just wanna be good dads, Larry the overly confident little dream eating baku, M/M, Multi, She's totally a witch guys, Shrignold the totally not insane satyr, Sketch as an alchemist I mean witch, Stacy the very rude faerie or pixie or gremlin with wings, Tony the tin can steam man, discord rp, magick au, some hypnosis stuff because that's always fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 16:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18854758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebatjokesonyou/pseuds/thebatjokesonyou
Summary: The formatting is currently more set for Discord so please excuse the asterisks! I'll fix them soon but I just wanted to post this ASAP!I have the roles of Harry, Sketch, Collin, Tony's first appearance, Shrignold, and Doi in the second Lilly sceneMy partner has Robin, Doi in every other instance, Tony in every other instance, Lilly, Stacy and LarryWe hope you enjoy! There is more being written right now and we're going to try and finish this thing!





	Don't Hug Me I'm a Fantasy

 

It had been a few days since the incident.

The day started out like any other. Robin was starting the day by heading out to the barn to gather eggs and milk to sell in the town, when he caught sight of smoke rising from another town miles and miles away. Normally, the duck would have thought nothing of it and just simply go back to work, but that was before he heard the monstrous roar of a dragon only a few moments later. A dragon raid was definitely something to fear, as the greed of the monstrous scaly beast would often leave many innocents dead in their tracks.

In the short amount of time they had, Robin gathered all the essentials he could think of while Harry made sure Doi was safe and ready to go. He grabbed their wagon, enough rations to last several days, blankets, their prized dairy cow to help pull the wagon along, a couple chickens, a bag of seeds (for when they finally found a new place to settle down in), feed for their animals, a sack of potatoes and other starchy foods, and a few other things the duck had deemed necessary to bring along.

They had all piled in the wagon, Robin holding onto Doi, keeping him quiet and close as Harry quickly drove the cart into a small path that led into the woods, the very woods they were warned never to enter. But they were desperate. Escaping the dragon was far more important than heading any silly warnings about an enchanted forest.

It was only an hour later of them trekking through the forest before they heard the dragon roar and crash into the farm they left behind, pillaging it for whatever valuables they left behind them.

That had been about five days ago.

Now, Robin sat in the back of the cart, carefully opening a small bag of hard candies he had saved, carefully handing one to Doi, then another to Harry. “We only have a couple more of these, so be sure to make it last.” The duck hummed, sighing as he popped his own treat into his mouth.

Doi was quick to begin eating his own piece of candy, humming as he went back to reaching his hand through the bars of the little cage the chickens sat in, carefully petting their feathers as they pecked at the grains that had been set at the floor of their small living space.

Harry held the candy in his palm and then motioned it back to Robin. "Go ahead and save mine. I'm alright for now." He then watched Doi, that deep pit in his stomach already starting to shift again. Not from intense hunger but more from anxiety. Things in the village had been pristine, living in the Dragon's Valley (as it had been nicknamed) had come with good, cheap farmland with what was claimed to be a low yet real risk of the creature emerging from his cave. Now the promise of living in such a place had come true. "I'm going to take a quick walk." The monster turned to Robin, once again hiding his emotions.

“You wanna stop for a bit? I can make some lunch while you walk.” Robin hummed, already digging through a bag filled with a few bits of firewood and cooking supplies while using his other hand to take back the other’s piece of candy. He could sense that the other was worried, and knew that a good walk would help him clear his mind.

"Alright. I'd appreciate it, thank you." Harry approved, patting the other's back twice. He wanted to hug Robin, kiss and coddle him and the boy they were raising but of course, he instead lumbered towards the woods, full of anxiety, doubt and self loathing. He mulled over his own behavior, how he was unable to do more or Robin was doing it for him. He was about to become lost in the grass for awhile until he caught sight of colorful puffs of smoke nearby. "What is that?"

“What is what??” Robin called from the cart, pausing his preparations for breakfast (some potatoes, eggs, and mushrooms covered in various herbs) and looking to where Harry’s gaze was directed. “Is it something we should worry about??”

Doi looked up from petting the chickens, his eyes gleaming curiously as he caught sight of the brightly colored smoke. The youth beamed as he quickly grabbed his backpack then carefully climbed out of the cart, making a beeline to whatever it was. “Do you think it’s somebody from the town? Maybe we weren’t the only ones to go into the forest!”

"Stay behind me then." Harry put a hand out, trying to get the boy a little closer to him. "We can go and see but I don't think they're from the valley."

“Aw, okay.” Doi sighed, quickly moving to Harry’s side and taking his hand, looking excitedly up at the colorful smoke.

“Wait!” Robin squawked, hurriedly putting everything away and shoving it back into the cart, but not before making sure it was placed somewhere quiet, hidden, and safe. He frantically tied Bertha’s lead to a tree, then hurried after his two friends. “Don’t go without me! You know the rumors about this bloody forest!!”

"We woudn't dream of it." Harry held Doi's hand and turned back to Robin, watching him approach them as well. "Alright. Are we all in agreement to go ahead and see whatever this could be?"

“I certainly hope so. Otherwise I stopped making lunch for nothing.” Robin snorted in amusement, dusting off his slightly messy clothes. “Do I look alright? I’d hate to make an unfavorable first impression.”

Harry brushed off the front of his outfit, having some oregano fall to the floor. "You look much better than the average person who escaped a dragon. And Doi, you remember what to do if we tell you to go back?"

 “Stay by the cart, and don’t come out until you say it’s safe.” Doi hummed automatically with a nod, carefully pressing closer to Harry’s side. “Don’t worry, I remember.”

Harry pat his head in approval and then set out, walking closer to the source of the strange colors.

"Love potion? BWAWOOSH! WOOSH! ADD THIS THING, WHOOSH!" A loud voice was coming from a redbricked home with several bricks painted different, bright shades and one green brick had a chalk message above, "Do Not Touch AGaiN!!!" the last word messily added to the sentence.

“Uh.” Robin stared at the shack incredulously, blinking in surprise. There were many things that the duck had expected, but a house like this was not one of them. “Er. I guess it looks... Colorful?” He murmured, one feathery hand scratching the back of his head.

“Wow, it looks like the candy shop back home!” Doi exclaimed, eyes shining as he pointed at the colorful structure. “Ooo, do you guys think they have any chocolate??”

"It looks sound." Harry confessed, looking up and down the structure. He noticed a window and couldn't help but peer in, quickly unable to look away at the even odder interior.

A girl wearing a wearing a witch's hat but more of a doctor's hand garmets stood over a bronze cauldron, throwing different things into the mix and adjusting the burner underneath it. "This'll be the one! The Witches Society couldn't turn me down with this one!"

“What did she say? Witch??” Robin murmured worriedly, peeking in through the window beside Harry.

Doi tried to look in as well, but couldn’t really squeeze in the limited room. He pouted, glancing around before hurrying to another side of the house and peeking through a window there, taking care not to step on the plants underneath his feet as he looked inside.

From this angle, the small witch's face was revealed to be staring at her brew in concentration before she looked up, her eyes wide and sparkling with excitement. "Oh! A test subject!" She went scrambling for the window, immediately ready to open it and pull him inside.

Doi jumped and squeaked loudly in fright, ducking under the window and practically diving into a nearby bush. “Uh, no thank you miss!” He yelped softly.

Harry was quickly scrambling to the other side, ready to step in and grab his son when things got even messier.

The little witch was undeterred, skittering through the window and joining him outside. "Aw, c'mon, it'll be fun! We can get creative with it!"

“Harry! Wait, we have to be quiet-!” Robin half whispered, half yelped as he hurried after the other, his webbed feet softly slapping against the ground.

Doi pressed himself back into the bush until he was right up against the wall of the other’s home, hidden behind dozens of leaves and branches. “F-Fun??” The child squeaked nervously, holding tightly onto the straps of his backpack.

Harry stopped, turning back to him. "We should intervene. Unless we want Doi to be kidnapped and eaten, it might be better to reveal ourselves." He whisper shouted back, stern and absolute.

Sketch nodded, brushing off her outfit that had gotten leaves on it. "Yep yep! Really fun! With potions and magic and all sorts of art!"

“Agh, you’re right.” Robin squawked, pacing frantically in place as he looked around for Doi. “B-But we can’t rush in, what if we all end up eaten?! There’d be no point in trying to save him-!”

“Magic??” Doi murmured softly, relaxing a bit at the word. He had only seen magic a few times, each when a wizard or sorcerer had come to his town and performed special shows. So the idea that the person in front of him could use magic was very intriguing to them. “You know magic??”

"One at a time. Slowly divert, have them get closer." Harry whispered back, his head turning to Robin slowly.

"Plenty!" Sketch grinned, her hands thrown up in glee, her eyes shining. "You can be transformed! Lots of colors and lots of fun!" She promised, nodding her head abruptly.

Robin slowly nodded, taking a deep breath before slowly following Harry as they both kept closer to the strange individual.

“That does sound cool...” Doi murmured softly, eyes shining. He crawled a bit closer to Sketch, smiling excitedly. “Can I see your magic? Pretty please??”

"Oh, ah course!" Sketch took out a little bright blue bottle, uncorking it and holding it out. "All you gotta do is drink this!"

“Uh, okay.” Doi carefully took the bottle, peering into it with one eye. He then tentatively opened it, curious taking a whiff and recoiling a bit at the scent. “Er... Wh-What does it do??”

"It'll make you float!" Sketch grinned, holding up her finger with a point. "Go ahead and take a sip! You'll be able to touch the clouds!"

“Um... But. What if I get stuck up there??” Doi murmured worriedly, looking up at the sky with a nervous frown.

"Oh yeah." Sketch frowned before she gasped, grabbing a nearby brick and a rope, tying the two together. "We can use this!!"

“Oh! Okay!” Doi nodded, grinning as he stood and moved closer to Sketch. “Are we tying the rope around me, or do I have to hold the brick??”

"We'll tie it around your waist!" Sketch wrapped the rope around Doi, tying it tightly with a grin. "And it'll keep you safe!"

Doi nodded in understanding, lightly tugging on the rope with one hand, the other still holding onto the bottle. “Okay... That’s good.” He hummed, carefully holding up the bottle in his hands. “... You promise I won’t fly away, right??”

"I promise!" Sketch held up her pinkie as a pinkie promise. "You absolutely won't fly off into the atmosphere, I promise!"

Doi smiled, carefully reaching his hand out and holding out his own pinkie. He quickly interlocked their digits for a brief moment before pulling his hand back. “Mkay! Uh, what’s an atmosphere??” Doi asked curiously before carefully drinking the potion.

"It's the tiiiiipy tippy top of the planet!" Sketch explained before she noticed the other two in the foliage, gasping. "OOOOOO, MORE TEST SUBJECTS!”

“Doi, what are you doing?! You’re not supposed to eat things strngers give you!” Robin yelped from the bushes, practically jumping out with both hands gripping tightly to the sides of his head in worry.

Doi squeaked, stepping back a bit as he hurriedly pulled the now empty bottle away from his face, dropping the glass to the ground. “I-I, uh, I’m sorry! I forgot...”

Harry quickly picked up his son, trying to get him away from the witch and the broken glass shards. "Doi, what did she give you?"

"It was a floating potion! First batch!" Sketch assured, glad to see the brick resisting the tug away and showing she'd done it correctly.

“Y-Yeah, it’s supposed to make me fly...” Doi murmured sheepishly as Harry picked him up. “I-I’m sorry I drank it, I got excited.”

“ First batch ?! Then how do you know it’s not gonna make him explode? Or turn him into a frog?!” Robin frantically squawked, grabbing Sketch’s shoulders while frantically shaking her back and forth.

"We'll talk about it at the cart." Harry firmly replied, still holding him. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sketch was shaken about, her eyes rolling in her head as she was. "Because it's a flying potion! And I only put thoughts of flight in it! Thought about birds and feathers a lot!"

Doi nodded, timidly resting his head on Harry’s shoulder while nervously glancing towards Robin, the duck’s behavior filling him with a sudden bout of worry. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine... I think.”

“That doesn’t mean it won’t do something else!” Robin shrieked, shaking her about some more before shoving her away, his hands snapping to the sides of his head and pulling the feathers on it frantically.

"Do you feel odd at all?" Harry asked, looking him over carefully.

Sketch held up her hands in defense, shaking her head. "No, no! It'll absolutely give him flight and nothing else!"

 “I donno... I feel a little lightheaded.” Doi admitted, yawning a bit as one hand absently reached up to rub his temple. He glanced over to the witch, pouting. “Is that part of the potion? Being lightheaded??”

Robin just groaned in frustration, his hands slapping in front of his eyes. He then glared at sketch, jabbing one feathery digit at her. “If anything else happens to him, you’re going to do something to fix it. Got it?” He snapped, trying to sound threatening, but with the way his voice cracked in worry it was very doubtful that he managed to sound scary.

Sketch shrugged, raising her hands up in defense. "He's not in pain, now is he? And if he feels light headed, he'll probably just float! And the two red bricks are holding him down so he'll be completely safe!"

 “Mmm... I’m kinda tired too...” Doi murmured, eyes fluttering a bit as he absently nuzzled Harry.

Harry held onto his baby boy still, looking him over. "Doi? Are you feeling okay? Are you in pain at all?"

“Not really...” Doi hummed, unaware that he was slowly beginning to slip out of Harry’s hold, moving up into the air as he began to float like a little balloon.

Harry gasped, trying to pull him back down. "Oh, no, Robin, whatever the witch gave him worked-" He tsked, hugging him close to his chest.

Doi squeaked as he was suddenly pulled back down, blinking awake (as he had started to doze off). “Oh... Oh! It worked??” He asked with an excited grin. “I can fly now??”

Robin actually seemed to relax, letting out a deep breath he had been holding. “Well. At least it didn’t do something more dangerous. At least with floating we know we can keep him on the ground by tying him to the wagon.”

"It's not permanent!" Sketch dimissed, waving her hand about. "And you can't go anywhere! I have to take him to the Witch's Convention! He'll make the perfect test subject for this batch and all my other fun stuff!"

 “We are not giving you our son so you can play mad scientist! We don’t even know you!” Robin shouted, stamping his webbed feet on the ground. “Ugh. Harry, I’ve had enough of his ridiculous woman! Let’s just get back to the cart and get the  hell out of here.”

Harry was about to drag Doi away until he noticed her pockets seemed to be quite full and one of them was shining. "How did a witch get money?"

"Hm? Oh, this junk? I make a bunch whenever I try to make potions." Sketch rolled her eyes, taking out a bag and spilling it onto the ground, several large gold nuggets falling down. "They don't even do anything cool! But they always gunk up the bottom of my pot."

Robin froze in surprise, staring at the golden nuggets that littered the ground, treated like yesterday’s leftovers instead of precious chunks of metal. Just the handful she had dropped to the ground was easily enough to pay for all the expenses on their old farm for two, maybe three years. The duck frowned, picking up one of the nuggets curiously. “Wait... You can just. Make gold whenever you want? How? I thought only alchemists could-“

"I'm  NOT an alchemist." Sketch huffed, crossing her arms. "And if you want this junk or anymore, you should be my helpers! I don't have anywhere else to put them and they're cluttering up my whole house at this point."

 “Uh...” Robin glanced towards Harry as he picked up the last little bits of the abandoned bits of gold, not sure how to respond. “What does being your uh, “helpers” mean for us? What would we have to do?” He asked with a frown.

"Just drink some potions and help me gather ingredients! Nothing all that dangerous." Sketch explained, her eyes settling onto the to adults. "In fact, I have some things I'd love to test if you all came inside!"

Robin shifted uncomfortably, looking at Harry uncertainly. If they were to take up any sort of offer, he would be far more comfortable if the other put his own input into the whole situation. “Er… H-Harry, what should we…?”

Harry had been mulling her words over, looking down at the gold nuggets and then at his own son, turning finally to Robin as he took everything into account. "...we can come inside and take a look at what you'd like to test on us. Only one of us though, we need someone to take care of Doi until your potion thing wears off."

“Well… I could go inside while you look after Doi, I supposed.” Robin eventually murmured, nervously scratching the back of his feathery head.

Harry looked over at the gold again on the ground. This wasn't something they could pass up, not if they wanted any chance at being able to have a stable life when they found a place to settle down. They could achieve so much more with these few funds. "If he's in any sort of pain, you have to stop immediately." He quickly added, his voice firmer than before.

"I swear on my pointy hat!" Sketch pointed to the slightly drooping headspace with a beam.

Robin shifted his weight from side to side for a moment before letting out an overdramatic sigh, the duck crossing his arms and stalking into Sketch’s shack. “Lets get this over with.” He grumbled.

Sketch took his hand, not noticing the small glare from Harry she received as she guided him to the house. "So, so, so! Anything you'd like to have? A power, an ability, a charm?"

“I don’t know?” Robin murmured, glancing around at the strange interior of the colorful building. He tugged his hand away from Sketch’s hand as soon as they were inside, holding it against his chest timidly. “Uh... Well. Do you... Maybe have anything that helps with anxiety? I Uh, I tend to panic easily. As you probably saw.”

"Oh!" Sketch ran to the shelf, her hands shifting through it. "I've got a bravery spell, an honesty spell, a confidence spell, a spell for insecurity, then some spells for more specific problems! Any of those sound good?"

 “I’m… Not sure??” Robin murmured timidly, holding both of his hands in front of himself. “I-I uh, I thought you would know the best one to pick…”

"A mix then!" Sketch picked up several bottles, going to the already half full cauldron and pouring some more into it.

“Is that safe??” Robin murmured, watching her work busily. “I mean, what if they mix wrong? What if it just makes things worse? What if it does something awful to me??”

"Oh, hush, hush! Magic doesn't do bad things unless it's made by people with ill intentions!" Sketch continued to mix, taking a broom and flipping it upside down so the handle stirred the pot further. "My intentions are as pure as the morning dew!"

"How would  I know that? As far as I know, you could be some one trying to enchant us, or kill us, or  worse !" Robin squawked, shifting from side to side uncomfortably as his anxiety continued to build. "I've had enough run-ins with magic folk before, they aren't exactly people you can trust right off the bat. Er... No offense."

Sketch tsked, continuing to pour, turning the concoction into a rainbow swirl. "Most of us are just trying to survive, you know. And why would enchanting you be such a bad thing? Technically," She took out an empty flask, scooping up some of the liquid to cork and shake it. "This  is an enchantment! It's just one being put to good use."

"I mean the kind that takes control of people. The scary kind." Robin huffed, crossing his arms. "...Harry and I have heard stories, of people being whisked away in the dead of night, returning months later with tales about how they were forced to do all sorts of things for some magical monster. Those stories have kept us out of these cursed woods for years."

"There are some neighbors I've got who are less friendly." Sketch confessed, still shaking her vial. "Mostly cause this is a gateway area! Not all of us are bad but this place is known for being connected to a lot of cities and towns. Used to be really busy until the magic folk already living here got tired of it and started hunting the defenseless. But that's uh. A lot of history. Tony'd know everything that went on here. Haven't seen him in awhile, actually. Anyways, I'm not a scary kind of magic user but they do exist! I forgot what I was talking about."

Robin fell quiet as Sketch spoke, one hand absently rubbing the bottom of his bill as he got lost in his own thoughts.  It was a lot to swallow, hearing that there seemed to be a history about all this. "... Wait. Who's Tony??" He murmured, frowning in confusion.

"A neighbor! He was here, haven't seen him since he went missing one rainy day." Sketch stopped shaking the vial, staring at it while she thought. "I think the Inventor made him. They don't cause much trouble but they are pretty anti-social. They both know a lot more about this place than I do and if you're looking to cross, they're the ones who could get you out in one piece."

"So... He's somebody that could help us?" Robin tilted his head to side, sighing. His hand moving to scratch the top of his head instead of his bill, the strange humanoid duck pondering to himself. "Well... At least there are a few nice folks here. Not just scary things." He sighed, genuinely relieved.

"Here, take a sip of this!" Sketch held out the colorful solution, her eyes shining. "If you do encounter scary things, this should make you brave! It's got all the stuff I listed and um..." She turned to the pot, an eyebrow raised. "Whatever I made before. What was it...?"

"Er... Thanks." Robin murmured, carefully taking the potion offered to him. "So I just... Drink it? If we see something scary??"

"Or if something's bothering you! Which seems like all the time." Sketch added, going back to the pot. "Now to fish out those pesky stones in the bottom of my pot. There they are again!" She huffed, picking up some tongs from the counter to reach into the swirled bath.

 “Uh. Do you want me to help??” Robin quickly asked, quickly moving next to sketch to see if there was another tool to help get grab things from the bottom of the cauldron.

"Oh, if you want to grab them, go ahead." Sketch handed him the tongs, turning back and going to an old chest, dragging it by the handle to the pot. "We can put it in he- OOF! This thing is too heavy! Thank you for helping me."

“It’s no problem.” Robin hummed, carefully reaching into the cauldron with the tongs, rooting around for whatever was the bottom.

A large rock quickly clanged against the metal tong, revealing that indeed, there was a baseball sized golden nugget sitting there, as well as several others.

Robin carefully pulled it out, spluttering in genuine surprise at the sheer amount of gold that was just sitting at the bottom of this large pot. "This is... Wow." He murmured, glancing to Sketch. "H-How much gold do you  have? "

"A few antique chests worth. They come up every time I make a potion." Sketch cocked her thumb to the shelf full of different, vibrant potions.

"Holy hell." Robin squawked, his feathers puffing up as his bill opened wide in shock. "Do. Do you realize just how  rich you are? I mean, even a fourth of this chest-" The duck pointed to the chest in front of the other with the tongs, gently tapping the wood with the large nugget. "Could have someone living in luxury for at  least a decade."

Sketch shrugged. "Who cares? Witches are all natural. We don't value gold, we value magic and balance! Money gets me some nice things sometimes but I care much more about being accepted by a coven and the other witches! Besides, I bet anybody could make shiny rocks."

“You’d bet wrong.” Robin snorted, digging around for another couple of nuggets in the pot. “Only people specially trained in alchemy or magic can make gold like that. And that kind of skill takes decades to master, not to mention countless resources.”

"There's that A word again! I told you, I'm a witch." Sketch huffed, pouting as she crossed her arms. "I think money is crummy.  More of it just leads to more problems."

"Well, whatever  you think about it doesn't really change my mind about it."Robin huffed, taking out the last of the golden nuggets, setting it down on the counter nearby. "Okay... That should be the last of it." He murmured, setting down the tongs, noticing the bright, colorful liquid that had gotten all over his feathered hands. "Oh drat. I should've put on gloves." He huffed quietly, shaking his potion-covered hand a bit in the air, trying to flick the liquid off.

"Oh, you most definetly should have!" Sketch realized, taking a step back. "Your hands are really rainbow-y! And pink."

"Ugh, it's sticky." Robin commented with a slight whine, huffing as he glanced around the room, absently pulling his hand up to his mouth and licking it off like it was syrup he might've gotten stuck on himself after eating a platter of waffles. He eventually sighed, frustrated with how little he managed to get off. "Do you have a trough or a well, something I can use to wash the rest of this off??"

Sketch's eyes went wide watching Robin stick the potion into his mouth and she quickly dashed off to the back, nodding. "Ah, yep! There's a nearby stream, go ahead while I get you some more gold! Come uh, back here when you've washed it off and tell me when you're at the door!" She squeaked, out of sight as she went past a mat she'd put up as a door way

 “Um... Okay??” Robin murmured softly, sighing as he held his arm in front of him to not mess up his clothes. He soon was stepping outside, briskly hurrying towards where the nearby stream was waiting.

The longer he walked, the more the world around him began to distort. It was subtle at first, small flares of light appeared slightly brighter, the edges of his vision only curving ever so slightly but the sky abruptly shifted pink without much warning at all as the potion began to set in.

Robin blinked slowly as he finally noticed the changes in the world around him, the duck looking up at the pink sky with a frown. “What on Earth??”

The world shifted to several different colors and a bout of dizziness came along with it, trees wobbling like spaghetti strands to go along with the disorientation.

 “Wh-What...?” Robin shuddered as he stumbled, leaning on the side of a tree trunk while holding his head. “What’s going on-??”

The world was a multicolored mess at this point, slowly but surely getting more and more muddled. Nothing seemed cohesive save for a shine in the distance that being the only thing that wasn't moving or changing color. "Doesn't that look interesting? Go and touch it! Nothing can hurt you right now!" Sketch's voice came out of nowhere but she seemed to be nowhere nearby, her advice once again being a product of the obvious bad idea.

Completely out of it, Robin slowly stood, groaning as he slowly began to stumble towards whatever was shining in the distance. “T-Touch... It...” He absently murmured, one are outstretched in front of himself.

"That's right, Robin! Touch it! Or fight it, or kiss it, or lick it. Nothing bad will happen!" Sketch, or at least something with her voice kept encouraging him, his eyes having a strange, multicolored pattern to them. "You're in tooootal control!"

 “Wh-What’s... Happening...” Robin murmured, pausing for a moment to hold his head as he looked at the figure in front of him, his gaze drawn to their multicolored eyes. “How...?”

Not Sketch laughed, jumping back with ease and landing perfectly on her feet, floating down to the ground. "Follow me, to fun! We're in a different world, a new place, a new u-ni-verse!"

“We are??” Robin murmured, the statement making sense in his dazed mind. Why else would the world look so different now? The duck shuddered, still stumbling in the direction of the figure, following her to wherever she was going. “H-How did we get here...?”

Not Sketch shrugged, walking backwards and avoiding every tree with an eerie amount of ease. "You tell me, you're the one that brought us here! Now c'mon, c'mon, the glimmer we saw, it's over here!" Several oranges with faces suddenly ran past his legs, going over to Not Sketch and vanishing in an instant.

Robin yelped, stumbling back a bit as the oranges ran across his feet, shaking his head. “W-Wait! Where are we going?!” He yelled, picking up his pace to a run to catch up with the figure in front of him.

Not Sketch pointed behind herself, bringing attention to the shine he'd seen before. "Look, look! We're going here to see what this is! You being King and all, we ought to go and check it out!"

 “What is it??” Robin murmured, frowning as he began to move towards the strange shining object. “We gotta find out what it is...”

The closer they got, the more it became obvious that this was a human being, a man with metal and rust and bits of blue. His head was slightly forward, eyes half open and faded and his mouth closed shut.

"Oh look! A citizen!" Not Sketch beamed, now right next to the metal man. "Isn't he charming?"

 “What on earth??” Robin murmured, blinking as he stared at the strange mechanical man. “Is he alright??”

Sketch shrugged, putting a finger onto the rust on his body. "He needs oil! Lots and lots of it, it looks like. You have to save him, Robin!"

 “Oil... Oil. Where’s some Oil??” Robin murmured, looking around with a frown. He paced around the mechanical person, looking on the ground for any sign of something that could help. “I think there’s some oil back in the cart, but if there’s some nearby that we can use it would be a lot more continent...”

Sketch paced backwards, pointing to a nearby can behind him. "Oh look, look here! A little oil just to get him across the way and then we can give him the rest!"

 “Perfect!” Robin chirped, beaming as he hurried over to the little can, quickly lifting it off of the ground and carrying it to the mechanical man. He looked over him for a moment before carefully applying oil in the needed areas.

The minute he was oiled, the joints began to move, sinking down to show the tension finally being released.

"You gotta put it in his mouth! Feed him  OIL! " Not Sketch grinned, moving her hands around wildly.

Robin nodded, carefully lifting up the Can and holding it to the other’s mouth. He very slowly, very carefully poured it inside, humming absently in his daze.

There were several seconds of pause before a hard cough came from the strange mechanical man, inky butterflies floating into the air as he held his mouth. "Bloody hell! 4 months, I was stuck there for 4 bloody months!" He shook his head before looking up, staring Robin in the eyes. "Who are you? You look like you've eaten a bad mushroom."

“I was about to ask you the same question...” Robin murmured, swaying in place with all the wooziness of someone high as as a kite. “I’m Robin... Who are  you ??” He pointed at the other sharply, before swaying to the right and nearly falling flat on his rear end.

"I am Tony." He flatly introduced, watching the other bend and sway. "Look Robin, as repayment for freeing me, why I don't I drag your sorry arse home before you really get into some trouble? You damn well shouldn't be smoking mary jane where there's danger about. Danger that would love to take advantage of someone so impaired."

Not Sketch giggled, a hand on her cheek as she walked back over to Robin. "We could have so much fun with him! Who says we have to leave yet, we're the rulers of this place! And he owes you a favor anyhow! Nothing fun to do without adventure!"

 “I didn’t smoke anything, I bloody drank something... Weird.” Robin murmured, absently raising a hand to the side of his head (coincidentally, it was the hand that was still covered in the bright, colorful potion). “And I don’t have to go home, I’m just fine having fun out here with... Whoever their name is.”

Tony looked at the colorful hand before he groaned, annoyance all over her face. "Absolutely oblivious alchemist and a poor, desperate man looking for pay. Why didn't I realize it sooner?" He grumbled, sighing out and grabbing his collar with an extremely strong grip. "Come now, chap. We're going for a dip in the river."

"Swimming is so boring!" Not Sketch whined, tugging on Robin's arm, trying to drag him back. "Come on, give him a good fight! Or a kiss! Or spit in his face! Action, adventure, that's why we're here! You don't have to listen to him!"

 “There’s a river??” Robin squawked, having completely forgotten about the stream altogether thanks to the effects of the potion. He looked back at the Not Sketch for a moment before frowning, trying to tug his hand out of Tony’s grip weakly. “We’re not desperate... We’re just lost. Trying to find someplace safe...”

"Well, allow me to educate you. This place isn't safe." Tony growled, his eyes narrowed. "And if we want to get you out, you need a clear head. Whatever your...friend is saying, they're not. Real. One of those bloody potions is why I ended up there in the first place. Do I have to drag you or will you walk with me?"

Not Sketch shook her head, grabbing Robin's and trying to shake his head. "No! I am real!" She insisted, her rainbow eyes pulsing wildly. "Come on, let's stay creative! Play in our space, rule our world! Stay! The water will take you away, send you into the forest, you'll never be safe there!"

“No, they’re... They’re real.” Robin murmured in his daze, the duck loosing focus as he absently looked up at the bright pink sky. He didn’t fight against Tony pulling him along, but he certainly didn’t help them move faster either. “I know they are... And I know a lot. I’m a king, you know...” He murmured, snickering softly.

Tony rolled his eyes, tsking as he moved them right along. "You sound like you'll fit in here splendidly. Just as mad as every other magic loon in the forest." He threw up his spare hand while he dragged the other backwards. "The water better fix you, otherwise I'll happily leave you to going mad. I doubt that deranged woman even told you this could happen."

Not Sketch hugged onto Robin, leaning onto his chest while she giggled. "Of course, of course! This is your world, safe and fun! Time has no meaning here, Tony! Neither does your flimsy, boring technology." She pulled out one of his gears, taking a bite out of it as if it were a cookie. "Look up at the clouds in the sky! See what they become through your eyes!"

Robin giggled absently, trudging right along as he absently echoed averything that Sketch was saying, humming an absent tune he swear he could hear in the air. The coulda above seemed to shift and dance and change colors as he looked about, a display that made him giggle like the world’s greatest joke had been told to him. After a minute though, he suddenly paused, as if he remembered something. “Wait... Harry. Where’s Harry? And Doi?” He murmured, suddenly alert despite how under the potion’s influence he was. He began to call out, sounding a bit confused and slightly frantic. “Harry?  Harry?? D-Doi?! ”

Not Sketch's face curled into a grin, a finger going to his beak. "Hush! Look, they're safe!" She pointed in front of him, Not Doi mimicking her smile and eyes along with Not Harry mimicking her eyes while the both of them walked along side them, the world shifting more violently than before. "We'll all live in this wonderful, colorful world together!"

Tony cursed as the other panicked, trying to move slightly faster. "Damn these unoiled gears! Hold on duck, we're almost there! Do me a favor and don't lose your bloody mind!"

 “Where are we? Why are we in a forest? Where’s the farm?!” Robin asked aloud frantically, his own understanding of what was happening being thrown through all sorts of loops. The duck quickened his own pace, surprisingly, trying to make sense of what was happening. “We’re not safe, we’re not, we’re... God, why is there so many colors? I’m getting a headache...”

Not Sketch frowned, glitching suddenly between familiar faces, trying to calm Robin down and get a grip on him. "NO! Those things don't exist! I exist, our world exists!"

Tony took him right in the stream and promptly threw him in, backing up to make sure none of the water would splash onto him. "Wash yourself off and swallow some water while you're at it!"

Robin let out a startled screech once he was in the water, the duck waving his arms and legs frantically about as he plunged underneath the surface for a few long moments. The duck frantically resurfaced, coughing for a moment before greedily taking in a few deep, frantic breaths. “Wh-What? What happened?!”

"You did the worse possible thing." Tony replied simply, sitting under a tree nearby. "You drank a mix that idiot made not realizing what she'd done."

 “Oh... Oh bloody-“ He groaned, burying his head in his hands in frustration. “God I’m an idiot. I should’ve listened to my gut about taking that potion.” Robin kept his face hidden for a moment longer before slowly lifting his head out of his hands, looking up at Tony with a suspicious pout. “Uh... Who are you, again?? I can’t remember your name.”

"I'm Tony. You found me in a horrendous state nearby also courtesy of the witch wannabe. You rescued me while muttering about intelligence and being royalty. You also have oil staining your shirt and I do apologize for that." He didn't sound one bit sorry, nor grateful. Instead, the mechanical man stood up, several loud creaks coming from the motion.

Robin blinked, finding his own memories of what Tony described to be a bit hazy. “Are you... Alright??” He eventually found himself asking while washing off his feathers and his clothes.

"I'll be fine. I just need to see Col-the Inventor before I go back to being a birdhouse." Tony huffed, pulling out some nest material from his side. "No offense."

“What?” Robin looked confused for a moment, before realizing the other meant his bird-like appearance. He absently rubbed his bill for a moment, sighing. “Oh... Uh. It’s alright. It’s not like that was directed towards me specifically.”

"One should never be too careful. I tend to verbally lash out. Turns out being given so much knowledge turns you a bit sour." Tony admitted before staring him over. "We ought to go and join Harry and Doi. Whoever they are. You screamed about them as though you were seeing some sort of murderous prophecy."

 “They’re my family.” Robin murmured as he carefully waddled out of the river, shaking himself off in a very duck-like fashion before dusting off his soaking wet clothes. “I-I think they’re still back at that weird shack... Come on, we should hurry, before that alchemist does something to them.”

"Your family of brothers? Cousins?" Tony rolled his hand forward for an explanation, trying to have Robin explain it to him.

 “Uh... Well. I’m not related to them.” Robin explained, putting one hand on his bill as he spoke. “I love with my partner and our adopted son. We live on a- Er. I mean. We  lived on a farm, a couple days travel from here.”

"Dragon Valley." Tony hummed in understanding. "I'm quite sorry for you and your family. Though it does seem to be the only reason any of you would actually stumble into here."

Robin nodded, shifting uncomfortably as he rubbed his own arm. “Honestly, none of us would’ve come in here if it wasn’t for... Well. You know.

"What, are the three of you going to try and survive in this place? Or do you have any actual plans to survive?" Tony inquired, looking around the area. "Ah damn, I hate crossing this stream."

 “I’m sure that as long as we’re careful and just stick together, we’ll be able to get through and find someplace new to live. There’s a village that should be across the forest, a place called Riverden.” Robin murmured, looking down at the stream in front of them. “Uh, there’s some oil back at our cart you can use if the water rusts you up again.”

"Riverden is a long way from here." Tony frowned at him before he nodded. "Ah, thank you. I definetly need some more. I'd appreciate some assistance to getting to Collin. He'd most likely offer you some help if you got me there, some weapons. This place isn't like most forests. You won't find bears or wolves here but what's left is much worse."

 “Believe me, I know all about the rumors. Faeries, Dryads, Nagas and other hungry monsters... There’s a lot here that can hurt us. But I’m sure if we stick to the path, we’ll be alright.” He hummed, carefully walking across the stream.

"Perhaps. But they won't stick to the path." Tony walked across, making a face at the mud on his foot. "And we can at least offer you a map."

 “That would be great!” Robin exclaimed, beaming widely. “Oh boy, it’ll be nice to finally know for sure where we’re going around this crazy place.”

"Nice? More like essential." Tony huffed, crossing his arms. "You won't be able to survive unless you manage to figure out where you are and what to watch out for or avoid."

 “Well why don’t you tell me some of he stuff we have to avoid? That would certainly make this easier.” Robin hummed, crossing his arms.

"The garden, the garden entirely. Don't eat food unless you've checked the entire area and if it looks too good to be true, it is. Fairies, a satyr, a naga, and a dream imp. There's more but if you're heading to River, that'll be the problems most in front of you." Tony listed off, using fingers to count off.

 “Goodness. None of that sounds even remotely good.” Robin murmured as they walked along, the two of them now moving through trees that were beginning to look more and more familiar. He perked up suddenly, the duck recognizing the area. “Oh, hey! This is where the shack is! Come on, let’s hurry before something... Happens...”

The duck suddenly stopped in his tracks, his hands snapping up to his bill in shock as he stared at the scene in front of him. He swore, hurrying to the side of a cart that looked absolutely destroyed, any belongings that had been inside completely ruined or missing entirely.

“What... What happened?” The duck murmured softly, looking around the area as his breathing began to become more and more frantic. “H-Harry? Harry?! Doi?! Where are you?!”

Harry walked over on his own, quickly by Robin's side. "Dragon came and went through here. Sketch, the witch woman, she let us hide inside the house. Everyone's alright and Doi is asleep but...we lost everything that was inside." He put a hand to the other's arm, ready to hold him or keep him up if he fainted.

 “Oh God... Oh God!” Robin exclaimed, tightly hugging onto Harry with a strangled sob. “Oh thank the stars you’re all alright!”

Harry went stiff for a moment before he sighed out, hugging back onto him tightly and rubbing his back. "I was scared you'd been taken, I-I'm sorry we don't go out to find you, I was just so focused on Doi and she said you were safe but-" He sighed out, laying his head onto the other's. "But I promise that won't happen again. Nothing happened to you when you were out there?"

 “N-Nothing happened, but... I did find someone.” Robin murmured, still hugging onto Harry with one arm while the other gestured towards Tony.

Harry continued to hold Robin, looking over at a somewhat flustered Tony. "Is that someone we should worry about?" He asked, slightly quieter.

 “No, no, he’s alright...” Robin hummed dismissively, giving Harry a soft smile. “He offered to help, to give us a map and help tell us what to avoid.”

 “If you say so.” Harry stopped, putting a hand to the other’s cheek. “You look like you were running around. What happened to you?”

Robin huffed, suddenly growing a bit irritated. “I drank some potion that woman gave me and it made me high as a bloody kite! I’m just lucky I bumped into Tony, or I may have stumbled off somewhere and gotten lost.”

 “Lesson learned.” Harry huffed to himself, still rubbing circles into the other’s back.

“Right then.” Tony cleared his throat with a cough. “Perhaps we ought to go and confront her as a group of upset individuals.”

“I’m going to give that bloody alchemist a piece of my mind!” Robin exclaimed, hurriedly standing up and brushing himself off. “Teach her to give me some awful bloody concoction!”

Harry followed her, his hands up slightly in defense. “Even if you are angry, as am I, we shouldn’t go in trying to attack her.”

Tony made a rolling up his sleeves motion, stomping his way towards the door with several loud creaks. “The time for democracy is over! 4 bloody months gentlemen,  4 bloody months because of her muck!”

 “I’m not just gonna walk away, not when she tried to poison me with that horrific potion!” Robin grumbled, rolling up his own sleeves before pounding on the door. “Hey! Sketch! Open the bloody door!”

Sketch opened the door holding a few vials in her hands. “You can come inside if you don’t keep doing that! Otherwise I’ll pour these on you!”

Tony rolled his eyes, taking Robin by the back of his collar and pulling him back once again. “Let’s take this outside then, shall we? Wouldn’t want to frighten the little one.”

 “You! You didn’t warn me that I would go gallivanting in the woods, high as a god damn kite! Ugh!” The duck tried to step inside, only to make a surprised quack when he was tugged back by Tony’s grip.

 “I forgot! And you-you licked a bunch of it off of your arm!" Sketch huffed, crossing her arms tightly. "Besides, you'll still get paid if you really want to!"

 “Well you might wanna make a warning sign for whoever else you might give this stuff to! Hmph.” Robin huffed, crossing his arms with a big  ’harumph.’

Sketch took out a sack and walked out of the shack, closing the door behind her with her foot. "Alright then, is everyone else okay? I mean, at least we're not being attacked by the dragon right now."

Robin was about to speak, but he was cut off by Tony speaking aloud first.

“We’re fine.” He huffed, letting out a long sigh as a puff of steam slowly trailed out of a pipe on his back. “We just need some time to calm down. We should wait a bit before we move on, in case that blasted dragon is still around.”

"I've never seen Susan out this far." Sketch hummed in worry, her hand to her chin. "I've cast enough charms on my house so it should be safe but we really should move on. I've read stories of dragons coming out of decades of hibernation and tearing the whole area apart."

"Susan?" Harry repeated in confusion, not quite understanding until the rest of the explanation.

 “Well, it’s been approximately 46 years and four months since that dragon was last seen, so I suppose that logic checks out.” Tony sighed. “If we do have to leave, then we should pack things up, get prepared. We’ll need food, oil, and supplies if we want to get through this bloody forest.”

Robin rolled his eyes, frowning as he glanced back towards where the destroyed cart was laying. “I... suppose I can rifle through what’s left, see what I can find. Harry, can you go inside and check on Doi? I want to make sure he’s okay.”

"I was just about to." Harry nodded, about to turn before he stopped and gave Robin's shoulder a squeeze, one of the few things he felt comfortable enough to give as physical comfort in front of others. He then quickly made his way towards the house, opened the door and called out Doi's name.

"Ooo, a road trip with a baby and a cute couple and Tony?! This is the most exciting thing I've been through in awhile!" Sketch clapped her hands in a thrilled motion. "I can bring everything we need and maybe someone can carry those heavy rocks."

Robin let out a comfortable hum as Harry squeezed his shoulder, finding the action comforting in their moment of confusion. He put his hand on Harry’s hand for a moment before he other walked away. The duck then let out a determined grunt, rolling up his sleeves as he moved to the cart.

“We are not carrying that much gold around like a party favor, not when there’s a dragon flying about.” Tony scolded, shooting Sketch a glare. “Having  any amount of gold near a dragon is a death sentence. We’ll leave it all here.”

There was no response from in the shack, the building eerily quiet. The only things in the building were the many potions that lines the walls, covering every shelf in the enormous amount of clutter.

"That's alright! Didn't wanna carry that junk anyhow. But I am bringing the essentials in my infini-bag and even  you can't stop me there." Sketch triumphantly crossed her arms, a smug grin on her face.

"Doi?" Harry called, walking in further before his heart began to pound. "Doi? Doi, where are you?" He searched the main area before going past the tarp, hoping not to find Doi coated in magic gunk or an open back door.

“Trying to stop you is like trying to stop time without the proper spells: completely and utterly pointless.” The mechanical man huffed. “But we are going to head to my workshop real quick. There are a few journals I want to grab before we head out.

While he didn’t find the child covered in magical gunk, he simply didn’t find him... at all. The only signs that Doi had even been in there were the abandoned ropes and bricks on the floor, and a back door that was slightly ajar.

Harry stared around, his eyes wide as his heart sank. He ran out immediately through the back door, interrupting Sketch before she was able to speak. "ROBIN! DOI'S MISSING!"

 “ What?! ” Robin exclaimed, jumping up from the cart, his expression showing every bit of the horror he felt. “I-I thought you said he was inside the shack! Did he run off? He knows he’s supposed to stay near the cart-“

“Your bloody cart was destroyed, of course he ran off. The dragon probably spooked him so he ran off into the woods.” Tony explained smoothly, sighing as he began trudging towards the tree line, a bit of steam hissing out of the large pipe sticking out of his back. “Let’s just look around the perimeter, see if he’s hiding out in the foliage…”

-_-_-

The forest here had been strangely quiet. It was strangely devoid of animals on the ground, skitters, chitters and flutters only coming up from the trees and those being rare in itself. Only the trees themselves and the sources of water took up sound and space. The emptiness was only broken by the sound of gentle humming, a few butterflies flying nearby, only around in this area because there was finally something to pollinate.

Frankly, Doi was getting tired of the forest. Day in and day out he had been doing nothing but trudging through the trees, trying to find it where he came from.

The child had run off into the woods when the dragon attacked, the monstrous roar and the sound of heavy, enormous wings frightening him to his very core. He ran and ran until he couldn’t run anymore, which was (impressively) for nearly an hour straight. But once he stopped and tried to make his way back, he quickly found that he had gotten completely turned around in his fright, and had gotten himself completely lost.

He had been wandering for about two days now, stopping only to sleep when it got too dark to see. Doi had no idea where he was. He was tired, he was hungry, and worst of all, he was horrified at the idea that he would never find Harry or Robin ever again.

He eventually stopped next to the base of a tree, lost in his own worried thoughts that had been plaguing him for days. The child sniffled, which quickly turned into choked sobs as he slumped down against the tree, rubbing at his eyes with both of his hands.

A small, pink butterfly fluttered nearby the poor child, flying in a circle around him before landing on his hand, moving around on his wrist. It's little wings flapped as if trying to speak or communicate with Doi.

At first, Doi nearly swatted the insect, fearing that it was a pixie or a faery, but he paused just before bringing his hand down, the small pink bug easily catching his attention. He sniffled, rubbing at his runny nose with his free hand before speaking. “Uh... H-Hi, little butterfly...” He murmured in a timid manner.

The small butterfly flew up before landing onto the top of his nose and flapping hard as if to try and dry off his face. It then drifted off, looking him in the face and waiting for him.

“W-Wait!” Doi yelped, wobbly standing up off of the ground and hurrying after the butterfly, stumbling a couple times in his frantic jog. “Don’t go-!”

The butterfly paused, stopping before it flew again, curving around a tree and trying to show itself to Doi.

Doi hurried after it, quickly catching up to it as it fluttered around the tree. “Wait, wh-where are you going-?”

The butterfly flew further, gliding before it stopped, landing on the hand of a figure across from Doi.

"Welcome back, friend. Ah!" The figure looked up, revealing a kind faced, light blue skinned man with fur and hooves for legs. A Satyr, one of the rarer and less discussed creatures. "Oh, little boy! What are you doing so far out here by yourself?"

Doi stared at the strange figure for a long moment, unsure of what to say to the strange creature. He eventually worked up the courage to speak, stammering as he spoke aloud. “Um... I-I got lost...” He murmured honestly, taking a timid step back from the satyr.

"Oh dear." The satyr frowned, tilting his head inquisitively. "Have you eaten anything? I have some fruits within my garden if you haven't! It's truly not safe around here, perhaps you ought to follow me..."

 “N-No, I haven’t...” Doi murmured honestly, his stomach giving a loud growl as if to emphasize his statement. He quickly perked up at the possibility of food, his eyes glimmering excitedly. “Wait, fruit? C-Can I have some??”

"Of course! I'm Shrignold, by the by." He introduced, walking over to the other. "Come now, follow me! You'll love all we have to offer! It's been some time since I've had a new face to share my harvest with!"

 “Uh... Okay.” Doi murmured, hesitating for a bit before moving a bit closer to Shrignold, simply to show that he was ready to follow him. “My name’s Doi!”

Shrignold turned away with a childish, pleasant sounding giggle. "What a lovely name!" He then walked over to an arch coated in beautiful flowers, pushing the gate open to reveal an entire garden full of a rush, ripe garden. "Come, come in! Go over to the table lad, let's get you some lemonade and I'll cut open a Golden Delicious for us."

 “You have lemonade here too??” Doi asked cheerily, smiling as he followed Shrignold through the archway. He paused for a bit, staring around at the lush, beautiful foliage around them in awe. “Oh wow... This place is really pretty...”

"Why, thank you!" Shrignold picked up a full pitcher of lemonade with colorful petals on top, picking it up and bringing it to a wooden table. "I grew everything here myself. Come, sit with me. You're probably exhausted, poor thing."

Doi nodded, eagerly sitting himself at the opposite side of the little wooden table, yawning ever so slightly. “I am a little tired...” The youth admitted, humming as he rubbed at one of his eyes. “I’m happy that I’m not in the forest anymore. Being out there was scary.”

"Yes, yes, it's quite frightening out there." Shrignold nodded, pouring the lemonade into a china cup, setting it down near him. "Go on and drink up! You need all the energy you can get." He then took out what looked to be a gold apple, holding up a small knife and starting to cut it up.

Doi softly thanked Shrignold as he carefully picked up the small China cup, taking a little sip before he noticed the apple in the other’s hands, and how it’s skin seemed to glint in the sunlight, as if it was actually made of gold. “Whoa... That looks so cool!” Doi chirped, grinning widely.

"Why, thank you! This is a Golden Delicious." Shrignold sliced it open gently, revealing a tinted magenta flesh within. "Go ahead and take a slice! It's refreshing and delicious."

“Why is it pink on the inside?” Doi asked curiously as he took a slice of the golden apple, inspecting it for a moment before taking a bite of the little slice.

"Oh! It's just the way it's grown. Mixed with passion fruit and pomagranate and several other fruits but it's quite crisp and crunchy." Shrignold explained, waving his hand around as he did so. "How does it taste?"

Doi blinked, licking his lips as he practically devoured the rest of the slice, humming happily. "Mmm... Oh man, that tastes very very good." He hummed, absently licking at a bit of the apple's juice that had gotten on one of his fingers. "Can I have another one? Please??"

"Why of course! Go on and have the apple if you'd like, I had one this morning." Shrignold set the rest of the fruit in his hand, grinning at the other. "In fact, you could have as much as you like since you've been through so much."

 “Thank you!” Doi chirped, remembering his manners as he eagerly took the rest of the apple, excitedly eating another slice with all the eagerness of a starving animal. He let out a content hum, unaware that his eyes began to glow a faint pink, similar in hue to the flesh inside the golden delicious. “Mmm, so good...~”

"Aw, what a hungry thing you are. I'm glad you like it. I grow all of these with love~" Shrignold motioned to the garden before he walked away, soon returning with an entire basket full of the fruit. "Go on and eat up, Doi. Don't worry about the mess, the compost will help to freshen up the garden! Chew down to the core to your heart's content~"

Doi eagerly nodded, hurriedly finishing up his apple before grabbing a few different fruits from the basket, pulling out a bunch of grapes, an orange, a peach, and a large handful of raspberries. "Wow. How many kinds of fruit do you grow here??" He asked curiously before stuffing his face with grapes, his eyes fluttering a bit as the pink glow in his eyes grew just a bit brighter.

"Oh, plenty! It's my only hobby, you know. That and playing the pan pipe but this is far less straining on my lungs." Shrignold joked, curling a strand of Doi's hair with his finger. "Feel free to try whatever you'd like! There's never a wrong thing or time to eat here. My bounty is always plentiful."

Doi purred, his head tilting ever so slightly into Shrignold's hand as the satyr played with his bright blue hair. He found himself thanking the other again before continuing to eat as much fruit as he could, completely devouring every raspberry, blueberry, orange, apple, and any other fruit that had been sitting in the little basket.

Shrignold seemed to be entirely undisturbed, instead watching all the fruit disappear down his gullet while he thought. "How would you like to stay here for awhile? Maybe you could help out a bit but honestly, just having someone help me take care of all this produce would be lovely."

"Mmm?" Doi paused, absently licking his fingers as he looked to Shrignold, his irises glowing a brilliant, bright pink color. "That sounds really nice... Hmm... I guess I can stay. " He hummed, smiling absently until it was quite suddenly replaced by the smallest of frowns. "But... I gotta go to find Harry and Robin soon. They're probably worried sick about me-"

In the same manner one would use to put an apple in a pig's mouth, Shrignold lifted a Golden Delicious and hurriedly put it inside, giggling to soften the action. "Dearie me! They're probably out looking for you right now, if you stay in one place, they're bound to find you. Besides, you'd be far better off staying here than trying to go galavanting on another adventure. You're just a hungry little boy, you can't be expected to take care of such large responsibilities by yourself."

Doi squeaked in surprise as he abruptly had an apple quite literally shoved into his mouth, but the youth found himself instantly relaxing as soon as he properly tasted the delicious fruit. He hummed, taking a few bites of the golden delicious before speaking. “Yeah... I should stay here...” He purred softly before taking yet another bite.

"There's a good lad. It's safe here, nothing around for miles and miles that could harm us." The satyr hummed, patting Doi's head before turning to the garden itself. "Consider this a place of refuge for flora and fauna alike! We have many little residents here, all of them who came here just as hungry as you."

 “Really??” Doi murmured, humming as he ate the last of the apple with a content sigh. “That sounds... Nice...” He yawned, one hand slowly reaching up to cover his mouth as he let out a long, drawn-out yawn.

"Aw, sleepy fawn, aren't you? Don't worry, we'll get you all tucked into a comfy little flowerbed." Shrignold gently hooked under his arms and tugged him up and out of the chair. "Want to walk or shall I carry you?"

"Mmm... I can walk..." Doi yawned while Shrignold helped him stand, the youth rubbing one of his eyes with his free hand while the other carried yet another golden apple with him (in case he grew hungry after some proper rest).

Shrignold chuckled softly, leading him to a soft flower patch, laying him down gently. "We'll get you a real bed soon enough but for now, I think you resting in the garden whilst I work nearby is quite fine. Go ahead and take a nap and if you need me, just give a call. Understood?"

 “M’kay...” Doi swooned, yawning as Shrignold carefully laid him down on the soft bed of flowers. The child let out a comfortable sigh, nuzzling the soft petals with his cheek. “Just gonna take... A quick nap...”

"Sweet dreams, Doi. May all the saccharine treats in your stomach lull you to sleep~" The satyr coo'd, stroking his hair back again and waiting for the child to finally fall asleep.

Doi fell asleep in no time, his breathing slowly evening out as he slipped off into his own little dreamland, a soft absent smile on his features.

Shrignold watched with what looked to be adoration until it turned into a satisfied smirk. "Too small to be devoured by anything here but cute and susceptible enough to be a perfect playmate." He rose up, continuing his mental notes as he made his way to the tree in the garden, leaving the boy to rest. "Now, we'll see if Lilly takes a liking to him. It's either that or giving him to whomever needs him most."

Up in the tallest part of the tree, Lily was resting amongst the branches, her long, pink serpent-like tail wound around them, hanging around like brightly-colored decorative banners. She was holding a flower in her hands, absently picking the petals off of it while humming a gentle musical tune.

 

Up in the tallest part of the tree, Lily was resting amongst the branches, her long, pink serpent-like tail wound around them, hanging around like brightly-colored decorative banners. She was holding a flower in her hands, absently picking the petals off of it while humming a gentle musical tune.

 

"Ah, Lilly!" Shrignold grinned, a hand on the trunk. "Precious blossom of my life, I've brought you something special! A playmate I think you'll quite a lot." He beamed up at the naga in the tree, waiting to see her face. 

 

Lily perked up at the sound of Shrignold's voice, the serpent-like creature letting out an excited gasp as she looked down at Shrignold with a big toothy grin. "You found me a friend? Really??" She called down, already eagerly climbing down the tree. 

 

"Why yes! He's sleeping in a field of little flowers right now." Shrignold explained, taking a small step back. "You can go on and take him up to your tree if you'd like! And if he gets boring or too difficult, I'll be here to help."

 

"Ahhhh, thank you so much Shriggy!" Lily exclaimed, leaping off of the tree in the last few feet to tackle Shrignold in a big hug, one that used both her arms and a good portion of her tail. 

 

Shrignold gasped at the hug, less out of shock and more out of breath. "My, you truly aren't a hatchling anymore!" He half wheezed, doing his best to hold the both of them up. 

 

Lily giggled, tightening her hug ever so slightly before carefully pulling away, but not before pressing a quick kiss to the satyr's cheek. "Ooo, you're the best! Okay, okay, I'm gonna go say hi to him! Uh, I'll talk with you at dinner later, okay??" Lily hurriedly spoke, already making her way towards the field of flowers. 

 

Shrignold turned away to give a desperate gasp for air before he nodded, a shaky smile on his face. "Of course, preciousness! I'm going to tend to and check on the rest of the garden!" 

 

"M'kay! I'll see you later! Love you!!" Lily chirped, waving at him with all the energy of a happy little girl. As soon as she was done speaking, however, she immediately made a beeline for the field, slithering as quickly as her tail would let her. 

 

Doi's chest gently rose and fell, his cheek nestled against a cluster of teeny, tiny white flowers. He dreamed of having a warm meal with his Fathers, a whole plate of golden apples there as desert. The boy smiled in his sleep, a sliver of drool sliding down his cheek. "Mnhh~" He mumbled something incoherent, his full stomach giving a small churn in response. 

 

Lily let it a small excited gasp, followed by a squeal she had to stifle by squealing into her arm. As soon as she fell quiet again, she hurriedly slithered next to Doi, careful not to wake him up as she wound her tail around him in a big circle. Once she was properly situated, she paused, simply watching the child sleep with a curious smile. 

 

Doi's body was absolutely pliant, the boy even spun around slightly but from the long walk to the food in his belly, he was far too content to wake up. He let out a small snore as his only acknowledgment, totally unaware he was now in her tail. 

 

Lily grinned waiting for a few more minutes until she couldn't contain her excitement any longer. The naga giggled, carefully using the tip of her tail to poke and prod at Doi's nose, trying to gently rouse him from his slumber. "Hello... Hello?? It's time to wake up...~" She cooed softly, one or two bright pink rings rippling through her eyes in her excitement. 

 

Doi snorted, his eyes opening just the slightest. "No, Da, 's not even sunrise..." He whined, leaning back to try and fall back into his bed. "I don't wanna do chores yet..."

 

Lily giggled, moving so her face was right in front of Doi, although, her eyes were not yet swirling. "Come on silly, I wanna play with you! We can't really play if you're sleeping now, can we??" 

 

"Play?" Doi opened his eyes, looking forward and gasped, letting out a yipe. "Wh-Wh-Who are you?" He asked, looking around as everything slowly came back to him. 

 

"I'm Lily! I'm gonna be your new best friend." The naga chirped, giggling as she used her tail to carefully brush away some hair from Doi's face, then to boop his slightly oversized orange nose. "What's *your* name? Is it as cute as you are??" 

 

Doi nearly paled at the sight of the tail, quickly realizing it was the weight on his hips. "D-D-D-Doi!" He blurted out, staring at her in absolute fear. "W-W-Why do you have a s-s-s-snake t-tail?"

 

"Well 'D-D-D-Doi,' I have a tail because I'm a naga! I was born with it." Lily hummed, giggling. She tilted her head at the other's frightened expression, the creature pouting cutely. "Aw, why do you look so scared? I don't bite." 

 

"You t-t-tangled me up!" Doi tried to explain, tiny tears already budding in his eyes. "A-And snakes swallow up stuff, Robin told me so! So I bet y-y-you tangled me up so you could e-e-e-eat me!"

 

"Silly, I don't eat people! That's gross." Lily murmured, making a face at the thought. "I eat the same kind of stuff that you do! Fruit, veggies, eggs, chicken... You know, food!" 

 

"O-Oh...I don't eat chickens. I'm a vegetarian." Doi explained timidly, still looking rather uncomfortable. "Uhm...what kind of g-game did you want to p-play?"

 

"Well, we can play the spinning game! Or the balance game or... Oh wait! I know!" Lily suddenly leaned in really close to Doi's face, grinning widely. "How about the staring game??That one's pretty fun."

 

"S-Staring? Like a staring contest?" Doi replied in confusion, gazing back at her and keeping eye contact if only out of concern for his own well being. 

 

"Mhm! Well, kinda. But that part isn't important." Lily hummed, giggling cheekily. "Alright, alright, enough talking! More staring. You're gonna count to three, and then we're gonna start the game, okay?"

 

"Oh, alright!" Doi nodded, deciding to go along with this since he really didn't have much else of a choice. "1...2...3!" 

 

As soon as Doi finished counting, Lily's eyes filled up with several shades of pink, purple, and yellow, each color flowing from the center of her eye endlessly. The naga grinned, leaning a bit closer to Doi. "Alright! If you can keep focusing on my eyes for more than five minutes, you win the game. If you can't, then I win!"

 

Doi let out a small gasp, mesmerized already by the colors. "Oh...pretty...~" He tilted his head slightly closer, his mouth ajar. 

 

“Yeah! They are pretty, aren’t they?” Lily hummed, her tail absently running through Doi’s hair as she spoke. “Just focus on the pretty pretty colors, so you can win the game, okay?” 

 

"Pretty..." Doi smiled, tilting his head again with a happy hum. "Hhhow do you doo that~?"

 

“It’s just something I can do! It’s kind of a special magic trick nagas are born with.” Lily explained, purring. “I just concentrate a bit, then you get to look at some pretty, pretty colors~”

 

Doi sighed through his nose, a smile curling up onto his face. "It makes my head feel all fuzzy~ I wanna stare and stare and stare foreeeever! Can we do that game instead Lillllly~?" 

 

“Well... If you want to~” Lily cooed, giggling sweetly. She tilted her head to one side, increasing the pace of her spirals a bit. “But first, I need you to listen to me, okay? Can you do that for me Doi??”

 

"Yesssmmm, Lilllly!" Doi half moaned out his answer, the colors in his own eyes moving faster along with hers. 

 

“Good! Okay. So.” Lily purred, carefully brushing the hair out of Doi’s face. “If you want more colors, I need you to do whatever I say when we play our games, okay? It’ll help make them more fun!”

 

"Mmore funn~" Doi agreed, nodding just a little as he did so. He leaned into the touches, his eyes continuously drawn to the naga's. 

 

“I also want you to know that we’re best friends! And *my* best friends get loooots of colors when they’re nice to me and Shrignold. So, you’re gonna be nice to us, and you’re gonna listen to whatever Shriggy says, okay? Especially when he needs your help with chores.” Lily hummed, her smile widening as she used her tail to continuously pet back Doi’s hair. “Do you understand?” 

 

"I dddooo~" Doi promised before his face shifted into a baby pout. "But mm...I don't like chores..." He mumbled, his head moving some to enjoy the pets properly. 

 

“But helping with chores gets you more of that yummy fruit! And I know you like the fruit, cuz it’s written alllll over your cute little face~” Lily cooed, her tail lightly poking at the other’s chin (which was stained from berry juices). “Besides, we don’t have to do chores yet! All we’re doing right now is enjoying some wonderful, wonderful colors.” The naga giggled, moving her head in little circles to watch Doi follow her gaze. 

 

Doi opened his mouth at the touch, looking even more hypnotized while he diligently stared. "Colorssss..." His eyes fluttered, his whole upper body shifting around to meet her. 

 

Lily giggled happily, entertained by the goofy expression Doi had gained from their little staring contest. She decided to be quiet for a bit, ever increasing the pace of the spirals while continuing to move her head about in lazy circles for at least ten long minutes, simply to get Doi to fall deep, deep, *deep* into his little trance.

 

Doi kept his up with each movement, his mouth still open while he continued to watch the beautiful colors pulsating. His expression became more and more relaxed, his eyes drooping and his smile widening. "Prettttyyyyyy...~"

 

Lily hummed, keeping it up for a bit longer before she gently spoke again. “Doi, I’m going to stop my colors in a bit. But even though they won’t be in front of you anymore, you’ll still be able to see them, even if you close your eyes. Do you understand?” The naga purred, petting the other with her tail again.

 

"Yessss...~" Doi allowed himself to be pet, now resembling more of a pleased kitty cat than anything. "Ccolorss..."

 

“Very gooood~” Lily praised, chuckling. After a minute, she finally stopped the swirls in her eyes, blinking her eyes a couple of times. They immediately watered a bit from her keeping them open for so long, making her vision slightly blurry. She huffed cutely, rubbing her eyes a bit. “Ugh... I gotta remember to blink next time...” she murmured mostly to herself, letting out a slight yawn. 

 

Doi yawned back in response, his brain picking up on the sound immediately. "Tttiired? Nap?" He seemed to be asking if they should sleep or if she was tired and needed sleep. It could have gone either way.

 

Lily pondered for a moment on what she wanted to do, but found she was too tired to really put her full focus on it. She yawned again, slowly sitting up while rubbing one of her eyes. "Yeah, a nap sounds good..." But she couldn't fall asleep here, not when she needed to meet up with Shrignold later for dinner. She eventually hummed, looking to Doi with a smile. "Okay Doi. You're gonna take a nap while I move us next to the big tree, Alright?"

 

"Alright..." Doi yawned again, his eyes fluttering rapidly, bits of colors peeking through his lids opening and shutting. "Mnn...sleepy..." His body was still properly exhausted enough that sleeping in would do him plenty of good. 

 

"That's it, just go right to sleep. You have nothing to worry about. You're safe here with me, in the garden." Lily said soothingly, carefully petting him with the tip of her tail as she slowly began to slither back to the tree, carefully carrying Doi with her.

 

Doi let out a quiet sigh before he shut his eyes, completely at her mercy again as he was carried in her coils. It wasn't long before the slow, deep breaths natural of someone who'd fallen fast asleep came from him, his body leaning entirely onto her while he further fell into her spell, the colors and her suggestions sinking into his mind. 

 

Lily continued to move along until she came to a stop at a rather enormous, flat mushroom at the base of her tree. It was a mushroom that she and Shrignold used as a table when they ate together. With a long, drawn out yawn, Lily made herself comfortable in her coils, laying down next to Doi as he slept. In no time at all, the naga had fallen asleep as well, peacefully resting beside her friend. 

 

In a few hours time, the sound of a ringing bell interrupted the two slumbering, Shrignold approaching the mushroom with some plates. "Come now you two, you've slept long enough. You have to eat at some point." He chuckled, setting the plates down on the fungus serving as a table. 

 

Lily snorted awake in surprise, sitting up quickly while rubbing at one of her eyes. "Mmm? Is it dinner time??" She yawned, leaning back to stretch out her lower back as well as her free arm. 

 

Doi, meanwhile, hardly stirred from his slumber, the youth still sleeping soundly within Lilly's coils. He mumbled something about colors before turning onto his side, nuzzling the coils in his sleep.

 

"Did you two have fun on your first playdate today?" Shrignold inquired, his eyes shining already. "I wish I could have been there to see it but I've had some problems with some of my Venus Blossoms and I just had to make sure they were faring well. Then I realized my Honey Pots needed some assistance, then everything else in that area. I hope you understand, Lilly."

 

"It's okay, we had lots of fun today! I learned that Doi isn't very good at staring contests." The pink-haired youth chirped with a giggle while she pulled her plate closer to herself. "What's for dinner? Is it something new??" 

 

"Not tonight, dearest. I went with something simple for our guest and since I was so occupied with taking care of the larger plants." Shrignold motioned to the plates, revealing salads with several colorful bits of petals and fruits and sandwiches full of vibrant jellies and a thick, brown butter. "Since the harvest went so well this year, I've got special cookies for you both to enjoy after you finish dinner! I hope that makes up for it. Speaking of which, could you try and wake up our dear resident? It's a bit rude to snore at the table." He couldn't help but crack a smile at his own joke. 

 

Lily grinned giggling at the joke before carefully bending over in her coils, using her tail to carefully pile Doi on his nose again to wake him up. "Rise and shine, best friend! It's time for dinner!" The naga chirped, helping the other to sit up. 

 

Doi snorted awake as Lily roused him from his slumber, the few lingering swirls in his eyes retreating as Lily used her coils to sit him up properly at the large table-like mushroom. "...Huh? What??" He mumbled, yawning aloud. "Wha's going on??" 

 

"It's dinner time, Doi." Shrignold curtly explained, pouring them both cups of juice. "I hope anything on the plate is to your liking and if not, I do have some meat ready for the spit roast. It's mainly for Lilly but I don't think she'd mind sharing if her newest, truest companion was able to have some." He teased, sliding over the cups once he was done. 

 

Doi was about to say something, but Lily was quick to speak first. "Doi's actually a vegetarian! Doesn't like eating meat stuff." She hummed, using her fork to eat a big bite of her leafy fruit salad. 

 

Doi pouted a bit, a little miffed that he didn't get to speak first, but he simply brushed it off in favor of picking up one of the jelly sandwiches, his mouth already watering. "Oh no, all of this looks really really yummy..." He hummed, grinning as he nearly at an entire half of the sandwich in one big, overzealous bite.

 

"Oh good! I'm glad you enjoy it!" Shrignold chimed, his hands clapped together. "I myself tend to lean towards the vegetarian side, especially since my stomach simply can't handle meat. But I always have some aside for guests or Lilly! So should you ever change your tune, I'm happy to give you some." He then turned to the both of them, as pleasant as ever. "Now, I have a series of special chores for you both tomorrow! Nothing too strenuous, in fact, I think they're quite fun. But they do need to be done. So, I'm going to go over the basic rules of the garden. Are you both alright with that?"

 

Doi perked up at the mention of chores, a few faint swirls moving through his eyes at the memory of Lily's suggestions. He hummed softly, almost in a daze as he remained attentive. "Yeah, I'm alright with it... What are the rules??" He asked softly, picking up another sandwich and eating it hungrily.

 

Lily gasped excitedly, her eyes shining excitedly as she spoke. "Ooo, ooo, are we gonna be helping harvest stuff??" She asked eagerly while stuffing her face with the salad, just as eager to eat the addicting food as Doi was.

 

"Oh yes. Spring is here, the garden is in full bloom! It's always in pristine condition but now is it's best time. So we will be going into harvest for the next few days. Which does include taking care of the excess fruits~" The Satyr purred the last sentence, knowing it would catch their attention. "The first rule is simple; never, ever go to the South West part of the garden. That is for me to tend to and me alone. Lilly knows where I'm talking about and I trust she can show you and steer you away. Is that clear?"

 

Both Lily and Doi seemed to perk up at the mention of eating any amount of the excess harvest, however Doi in particular seemed to pay great attention to every word thevsatyr said, the blue-haired youth nodding an affirmative to let Shrignold know he understood completely. "No going to South West garden. Got it." He murmured quietly, before pouting cutely. "Wait... *Why* can't we go there? I-Is it dangerous??"

 

"Most of the thieves who'd like to sneak in and steal fruit enter there. I have a seal protecting the garden from the outside world, more importantly, large malignant figures cannot enter this space. But there is an opening small enough to allow people in one at a time so I left little surprises there to keep them from harming us. This leads to rule two; stick together, stay safe and rule three; don't eat anything I haven't given you. You may always ask for thirds, fourths or seventeenths but I must be the one to give it to you or approve of it. After tomorrow's final chore, you'll be able to gorge on the excess you've picked but please, before then, don't eat something unless I've said it's alright. Alright, I have one last rule and then cookies." Shrignold spoke seriously, turning his attention mainly to Doi and absently playing with a fruit in his hands. 

 

Surprisingly, Doi remained fully attentive as Shrignold spoke, every rule becoming law to him (thanks to Lily’s previous suggestions). He even repeated a few of the rules to himself, nodding in affirmative to let the satyr know he understood. 

 

Lily simply nodded as she ate, having heard about all these rules before. She had quickly finished her salad, and had now moved onto eating some of the many, many sandwiches.

 

"The last one is simple; don't ever leave the garden. It's dangerous out there, we all know this. And with the bit of chaos currently going on, staying here and perhaps even taking care of stragglers who come by is the best thing to do. If you see anyone nearby, call for me. Usually, I have a sense about these things but occasionally, even I can miss a thing or two." Shrignold looked at one of the butterflies resting on a nearby flower, mulling over his thoughts before he reached down and pulled out a whole tray of warm, chocolate chip cookies with a blue tint to them. "Here you are! This is for being such good listeners!"

 

Lily let out an excited gasp, clapping her hands together eagerly as Shrignold pulled out the tray of cookies. "You made the blue ones!" She exclaimed, putting down the last bit of her sandwich as she instead grabbed a few of the cookies off of the platter.

 

Doi nodded as Shrignold finished explaining the last of the rules, his own grin widening as the satyr pulled out the blue chocolaty treats. He hurriedly finished up the last of his salad, one hand reaching out at taking a cookie excitedly.

 

Shrignold laughed at their eagerness, covering up his mouth with his hand for a moment. "I wanted to surprise you! The Jobecks finally revived and I just knew the petal cookies were your favorite. I even made the starch with their syrup." He pushed the tray towards the both of them so they wouldn't have to reach. "I made three batches so don't worry! And whatever you don't eat tonight can absolutely be breakfast tomorrow~" 

 

Lily was the first to eagerly eat the cookies in her hands, the naga letting out a pleased hum at the wonderful taste. "Mmm, so good...~" She hummed, a few spirals lazily moving through her eyes. However, these ones were pale shades of blue and white rather than pink and yellow.

 

Doi watched Lily eat them eagerly for a moment before he looked down at his own cookie, licking his lips as he took a tentative bite of the treat.

 

The satyr hummed, looking over at Doi with a slight smirk. "Do you like it? They're Lilly's absolute favorite, I'd make them more often if I always had the good fortune it takes to be able to have those lovely plants bloom. You most certainly won't find treats like these anywhere else."

 

Doi purred softly at the taste of his treat, the youth licking his lips before eating the rest of the cookie in one big bite. "They're really googh..." He murmured softly, already reaching for a second treat, unaware that his eyes began to lazily swirl the pale colors as well.

 

"Good, good." Shrignold arose from his seat, moving to the both of them and putting a hand to both their heads. "Go ahead and eat as many as you'd like~ Let the warmth from every cookie sink into your head, let your thoughts drift away. You don't have to think of anything else but enjoying another cookie and listening to my voice."

 

The both of them were all too eager to take more of the cookies, the tray soon becoming completely empty as they both grabbed a large armful of cookies to eat while absently listening to Shrignold's voice and letting their thoughts slowly drift away.

 

"Listening to... Your voice..." Doi murmured softly, his head already tilting into the satyr's hand as he ate another cookie in one big bite. "Mmm..."

 

Shrignold stroked both of their heads with his thumb, chuckling softly. "There we are. Gooood little ones. You both know as long as you're here, you're safe. Neither one of you could even think of leaving. Leaving means no more sweets or colors and you don't want that, do you?" He gently positioned their heads to shake no before they could even answer.

 

"No~" Lily purred cutely while Shrignold gently shook her head, her tail loosely wrapping around Shrignold's hand in her daze, giving it an affectionate squeeze. "Don't wanna leave..."

 

Doi was as malleable as putty at this point, the youth hardly putting up any sort of resistance as Shrignold gently shook his head for him. All he did in response was let out a comfortable hum, already munching on yet another treat as the gentle suggestions became words in his mind. 

 

The both of them nodded with Shrignold's help, the idea of them staying together forever in this garden becoming an absolute paradise in their minds.

 

"In-sep-ar-able..." Lily cooed, her tail slowly wounding around Doi with a soft, dazed giggle.

 

"Together... Forever? Here??" The blue-haired youth murmured quietly, his pale swirling eyes fluttering a bit. 

 

"Mhmm~" Shrignold agreed, sliding another cookie into his mouth. "Together. Forever. Here. There's nowhere else better than this. Of course we could visit other places but this is home. You'll always come back~"

 

"No where... Better... Always come... Back..." Doi managed to mumble before the cookie was carefully slid into his mouth. He hummed quietly, happily enjoying the taste of the blue treat. 

 

"Perfect. Alright you two, it's bedtime." Shrignold turned to the naga he'd raised, giving Lilly a kiss on the cheek. "Take him up the tree and keep a good hold on him so he doesn't fall while you two sleep. Understand?" 

 

Lily hummed cutely at the kiss, the naga smiling softly as she pressed her own kiss to Shrignold's cheek before carefully pulling Doi closer, making sure she had a good hold on him. "I un-der-stand..." She cooed sweetly, dazedly giving Shrignold the smallest of waves while moving back towards the nearby tree. 

 

"Goodnight, dearest. May the both of you have the sweetest dreams from the sweetest treats~" Shrignold waved back before he began to clean up the table, picking up the plates and setting them onto the tray.

 

Lily purred, carefully scaling up the tree with practiced ease while carefully holding Doi in a small section of her coils. She scaled the tree until she was about halfway up to the top, where she stopped and wrapped her tail around the branches, making a little bed of coils for herself and Doi to rest in for the night. 

 

Shrignold looked up one last time before he trotted off, a grin on his face as he made his way to the South Western section of the garden once more. "Oh, imagine in a decade's time, my little girl having someone to marry~! I suppose they're betrothed now. I can't have his blasted parents get in the way. They're probably on their way now. And I'm sure I know how to convince them~"

 

***

 

Night went and morning came and with the sunrise was the sound of another bell right below the tree. "Good morning! Rise and shine! We're getting an early start to the day, breakfast and then straight onto chores!" 

 

Just like last time, Doi didn't stir, only shifting around to be more comfortable in Lilly's coils while he hummed. 

 

Lily again was the first to stir from her sleep, her head slowly peeking out of her big pile of coils with a tired hum. "Hmm? Is it breakfast time already...??" She murmured softly, yawning loudly. 

 

"Breakfast?" Doi echoed, his eyes open halfway revealing the last few bits of blue and white echoing in them. "Didn't he say cookies for breakfast...?"

 

"I think he did??" Lily murmured softly, the naga not really remember exactly what the satyr said the night before. She yawned, her tail winding around Doi lazily as she spoke. "Come on, I'll carry us down..."

 

"Yaaaay~" Doi cheered quietly, still half asleep as the colors finally retreated from his irises. "Comfy..." 

 

"Come on, before the eggs and toast go cold!" Shrignold called up again, pouring them juice in two glasses. He set a large plate of cookies in the middle, rather proud of his set up. 

 

Lily carefully moved down the tree branch by branch, eventually making it down to the base of it win Doi still comfortably in her coils. The naga yawned, slowly making her way to the large mushroom with a sleepy yawn. "Mornin' Shriggy..." She murmured sleepily. 

 

"Morning, Lilly! It looks as though your friend is more awake than you today." Shrignold snickered, moving over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Come on sweetness, we have lots of work today and you have to be up and ready to go."

 

"I don't wanna wake up..." Lily whined cutely, pouting up at Shrignold while resting her head on the table. "Can't I sleep for just a little longer...?" 

 

Before Shrignold could speak, Doi was the one to respond, tilting his head. "C'mon Lilly, after we eat, we get to do harvest! And harvest means extra and extra is yummy!"

 

Lily let out a sleepy whine, pouting as she slowly reached across the table and grabbed her plate, pulling it towards her so it was closer to herself. “Fine...” She grumbled, taking a bite of her eggs.

 

"Don't mind her Doi, my buttercup has never been an early bird. Even when she was just a hatchling, she tried to squirm out of my hold when I woke her up too early." Shrignold sighed dramatically, reminiscing at once. "Why, I remember it like it was yesterday. Perhaps if you're too tired to speak, I could tell him a story instead~?"

 

“A story does sound nice...” Lily murmured with a yawn, grumpily continuing to eat the rest of her breakfast at a slow, lazy pace. 

 

"How about the day that I found you?" Shrignold asked her but turned to Doi to see his reaction, clearly interested. 

 

"Oh! That does sound kinda interesting." Doi half agreed, taking a large bite out of his jelly toast. 

 

“Aw, not that one again...” Lily whined cutely, already flushing brightly in embarrassment. “Do you have to tell that every time we meet someone new??”

 

"It's my favorite story!" Shrignold defensively huffed, his hands on his hips. "And until the day you two are wed-er, you find someone to marry, it's the biggest one in your whole life!" 

 

Lily just pouted, grabbing one of the cookies on the table with a huff. “It’s embarrassing...” 

 

"It's not!" Shrignold pouted before he turned to a bashful, loss for words Doi. "Now, it all started with a thief in the garden in the middle of a cool summer's night. He'd managed to find a hole I quickly sealed and repaired in my enchantment that wasn't in the South West so he nearly managed to get away with several of my fruits! I woke up and caught him square away and he was so frightened he dropped the bag and everything in it. I gathered the fruits, trying to recount my losses when lo and behold," He gasped for dramatic effect. "What do I find but a pink egg with yellow spots as if it were for a Spring celebration?"

 

Lily flushed in embarrassment as Shrignold recounted the story, absently playing with her fork in one hand while the other held the cookie she continued to munch on. 

 

"Imagine my shock! An egg from a thief? I decided to take care of it for a month and then head off into the closest town with it securely in a sling. I walked all the way to a nearby city and found the library, reading up about what she was!" Shrignold chimed, putting a hand onto her head. "Only for cracks to begin to appear~! Do you remember that my little blossom?" 

 

Lily sighed, letting Shrignold place his hand on her head as she gave a small nod in response. “A little bit, yeah... I mostly just remember the light that I saw when the shell started breaking.” 

 

"Oh, imagine my surprise! I found the quietest space I could and slowly watched you hatch." Shrignold clutched his hands together, sniffling. 

 

"Uh...are you crying?" Doi asked, already reaching for another cookie. 

 

Lily just fell quiet, her face a bright red in her embarrassment. She hid her face behind her hands, letting out an embarrassed whine. “Daaaaad, this is humiliating...!” 

 

"Oh, your sweet little face! I scooped you and that book with me and made my way back to the garden, holding her close. And I've loved you ever since!" Shrignold held his hands to his cheeks, his eyes glistening. 

 

Lily let out a long, drawn-out whine, the sound slightly muffled behind her hands.

 

Doi looked between the two and timidly raised his hand. "C-Can we go harvesting now?"

 

Lily peeked at Doi through her fingers, sighing in relief as a quick change in topic presented itself. “Uh, yeah! When do we start??” She asked, standing up from the table all too quickly.

 

Shrignold pouted childishly before he sighed. "We can do it right now. Bring those glasses with you and we can get straight to it."

 

Lily grinned, quickly grabbing her glass before giving Shrignold a playful little salute. “Okay! All ready!” She chirped cutely.

 

Doi grabbed his own, taking a sip. "Mmm~! Yummy~!" 

 

"Follow me." Shrignold walked towards the field, briefly looking back to check on them before he marched forward.

 

-_-_-

 

Unbearable. That was the only word Robin could think of to describe their situation. 

 

For the past three days, he, Harry, Sketch, and Tony has been moving through the forest, searching every tree, rock, and bush for their lost son (against Tony’s wishes). But no matter where they went, the story was still the same. They were just wandering around an enchanted forest with no hope of finding Doi. 

 

Robin trudged alongside the wagon Sketch has set up for their travels, his arms wrapped around himself in a pathetic hug, the duck lost in his own thoughts. They had changed directions last night for some reason he couldn’t recall, guides by Tony towards some bloody workshop. Robin didn’t really care though. He just wanted things to go back to the way they had been before the dragon.

 

Harry had never been the best emotional support for his partner. He could take care of work, chores, being strong and composed. It was much easier to comfort Doi but when it came to comforting Robin, it felt near impossible sometimes. 

 

His emotional turmoil was mainly from how inferior and out of control he felt. Usually he'd have more snarky things to say to Sketch's infinite positivity or Tony's insistence to go to some workshop but he had no energy left. Instead he simply walked with the others, desperate to find Doi soon and maybe some way to make his partner happy. 

 

"...and so I said to the guy, that's not a singing potion! It's acid! But he didn't listen to me!" Sketch finished the story, shaking her head. "It's a good thing I had a restoration potion. It barely did the ticket."

 

“Sounds like he was a moron.” Tony snorted as they continued to walk along. In his case though, he was sitting at the front of the wagon, directing the mule leading the cart in the right direction while also tinkering with his left arm, which was sitting in his lap rather than being attached to his person. “Why is it that only idiots and bandits try to walk though this bloody forest? It would be nice to have a conversation with someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”

 

"It's the rumors, Tony. Only people dumb or desperate go through here." Sketch hummed, throwing her hand in a dismissive manner. "But they can all be great company and greatpeople to do experiments with!"

 

“Not in my experience. You wouldn’t *believe* how many times I’ve met people who think they know everything about bloody magic because they heard about it one time.” Tony huffed, carefully placing a small gear in place in his arm before nodding in approval. He carefully set his tools back into his leather satchel, taking care to properly put them away before reconnecting his arm back in its empty socket. “There. That should take care of the bloody stiffness from the rust.”

 

"But your inside stuff still needs to be looked at!" Sketch pointed at him, her eyes slightly narrowed. "And you are going to let him make sure you're okay or I'll make sure you never hear the end of it."

 

“I am not letting that inventor take a look at my insides!” Tony squawked, glaring down at Sketch. “God knows what he’ll do to me if I let him open me up.”

 

"Fix you." Sketch deadpanned, her eyes half lidded. "That's all he ever does when he gets his hands on you. And makes your gears spin faster than they usually do~"

 

“Sketch, the last time he tried to do something to me, he tried to add extra arms and something he called a helicopter pack. What does that even *mean*?” The mechanical man huffed, shuddering. “I much prefer how I am now, thank you very much. Far less to worry about when you only have to fix *two* arms instead of *six.*”

 

"It would have been creative!" Sketch half whined, crossing her arms. "And you would have been able to have...helicopter abilities! Whatever that means! That could absolutely be useful! Besides, he also did the basics and didn't do anything crazy when you said no.

 

“Do you know how hard it would be to repair four more of these? I mean, how would I even- Wait.” Tony paused, carefully pulling on the reigns to stop their wagon. 

 

Robin frowned as the wagon stopped, the duck looking up at the others with a frown. “What? What is it??” He murmured, already fearing the worst.

 

“I recognize this area... I think we’re close.” Tony eventually murmured, carefully climbing off of the wagon while some pipes in his back let out a puff of hot steam. 

 

"Oooh!" Sketch grinned, running forward. "Come on! The closer we get, the closer Tony gets to finally have what he truly desires~" She giggled, a hand on her face. 

 

“Wha- It’s not like that!” Tony exclaimed, even more steam pouring out of the pipes as he shot her a glare. He huffed, stomping on ahead of the rest of them, his metal limbs making heavy thudding sounds as he moved.

 

Robin sighed, lingering by the cart for a minute before slowly trudging after them, absently rubbing his own feathery arms.

 

Sketch stayed close, chuckling as she walked in circles around him. "Aw, we both know that you like like him! You deserve him~" She giggled, biting her lip. 

 

Harry stayed by Robin, noticing his antsy behavior. "Maybe this inventor guy will have something for us. A map could do us a lot of good for covering ground."

 

Tony just growled, pinching he front of his nose (not that he needed to, he couldn’t exactly get headaches after all) while letting out a long, frustrated exhale. “Come on, we’re wasting time having this bloody conversation. The entrance should be... Just over here.” He murmured, suddenly changing directions and walking towards a rather oddly-shaped tree in the distance.

 

“Maybe...” Robin murmured, still not looking up from the ground. “It would be nice to find something that can help us with this...”

 

Sketch dashed over to it, her hands groping the tree. "Where is it? Where is it where is it where is it????"

 

Harry nodded, reaching over to put a hand onto his shoulder. "We're going to find him and when we do, he'll never leave our side again."

 

“It’s up here.” Tony murmured, putting his thumb in a certain knot on a certain branch, which resulted in the sound of a soft ‘click!’

 

Robin sniffled and nodded as he leaned against Harry, silently grateful for the reassurance that everything would be alright. 

 

Sketch gasped dramatically, jumping up and down. "I always forget about how exciting this part is!! Tony, you ought to tell your boyfriend this is the coolest thing ever." 

 

Harry moved his hand up to the back of the other's head, giving small reassuring rubs before he reluctantly pulled back, turning to the tree. "...should we go with them?"

 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Tony huffed, crossing his arms and taking a step back from the tree.

 

The tree shuddered before there was a loud clanging sound, followed by a panel on the side of the odd tree slowly opening to reveal a strange empty room with buttons on the side of one of the walls.

 

Robin sighed, looking at the tree for a moment before slowly approaching it. “Well, what else are we going to do? Wait out here until they come back?” He murmured, knowing that it would probably be safer in this “workshop” than it would be out in the forest.

 

"Fine, fine, he's not your boyfriend yet." Sketch corrected herself, giggling a little at how flustered he was. 

 

Harry watched Robin and followed him with a sigh. "We'll get a map and convince these two into actually helping us."

 

Tony huffed, rolling his eyes and stepping into the strange room, looking at the others expectantly.

 

Robin nodded as they stepped into the room, the duck frowning in confusion. “Is this... The workshop? There’s nothing here.”

 

“Heavens no. This is just the elevator.” Tony explained, glancing down at a watch on his right wrist. “Come on, everybody in, let’s get a move on.”

 

Sketch popped right on in, watching Harry enter as well with a grin. "It's nice to see everyone getting along! Tony, take us right on down!"

 

Tony rolled his eyes, reaching over to the buttons on the wall and pushing one button at the bottom right of the panel, seemingly at random.

 

The doors in front of them slowly closed until they shut, and were promptly followed by a few moments of silence. The room then began to shake, before a sinking feeling quickly came over everyone in the room as the elevator began to move down.

 

Robin squeaked, practically jumping to the nearest wall and gripping onto the bar there, eyes wide and confused. “Oh god, it’s an earthquake-!” 

 

Harry quickly wrapped an arm around him, rubbing his back. "Shh, no, Robin, it's okay. There's no earthquake, we're okay." He hushed, trying to comfort him. 

 

Sketch jumped up and down like a maniac, her eyes sparkling. "We're going down! It'll be great!" 

 

Robin freaked out for a bit longer, until he noticed Tony’s strangely calm behavior. The duck shuddered, tightly hugging Harry as he took a deep shuddering breath to help calm himself down. 

 

“Stop jumping! You’re shaking the whole thing.” Tony scolded, lightly nudging her with his elbow to get her to quit.

 

The elevator continued to move down until it finally came to a stop, slowly opening its doors to reveal the room they had been brought to. 

 

Harry hushed him gently, still holding him. "Breathe." He whispered to the other, hoping it would help to calm him down. 

 

Sketch pouted but did as she was told, running straight outside once they reached the bottom of the elevator. "Coooooollin~! I brought your booooooyfriend~!"

 

“Sketch! Don’t just run in, you -*know* what happened last time!” Tony exclaimed, hurrying after the alchemist as she ran into the darkened room.

 

Robin slowly nodded, taking a slow, deep breath as per Harry’s suggestions as they stepped out of the elevator, looking around the dark, cluttered room nervously. “Oh Gods, I can’t see anything in here.” He murmured softly.

 

Sketch cackled, spinning in the empty dark as while she did so. "I'm going to take the risk! Coooooollliiiiiiin!" 

 

"I'm right here." Harry kept an arm around his shoulder. "Is there anyway to get some light in here?"

 

“Sketch! You’re gonna actívate the bloody security system! Then we’ll all be in trouble!” Tony half-whispered, half-shouted as he grabbed onto her, getting her to hold still:

 

“Maybe there’s a candle somewhere around here.” Robin murmured as he began to walk through the room, hands outstretched in front of himself. He fumbled with the things in front of him, trying to find something that would act like a light source. 

 

Sketch stopped, turning to him. "Where /is/ Collin anyways? He'd usually be out here by now! And he'd be very eager to see you again after so long!" 

 

Harry followed him, looking around as best he could. "Hmm...it looks like there's a lot of metal. Maybe something here lights on fire."

 

“Maybe He’s experimenting with that pocket dimension he talked about last time.” Tony murmured. “Or maybe he’s testing something out on us and is waiting for us to trigger it.”

 

“Well, I think I found some kind of box, but I don’t think it’ll light anything.” Robin murmured softly, walking ahead a bit. “This place feels so cluttered, how does this person find anything in this big- w***AHH! SOMETHING’S ON MY HEAD!”*** Robin shrieked suddenly, which was followed by an enormous clattering sound as a pile of stuff nearby fell between him and Harry.

 

Sketch hummed in thought, debating this in her head. "Hmmmm..." 

 

Harry gasped, tripping and falling back in the dark. "Robin, Robin calm down-breathe!! What's on your head, is it alive, do you need me to kill it?!"

 

“Either way, it might be best for us to stick together, because it sounds like the blasted duck got into something he wasn’t supposed to.” Tony sighed, giving himself a face palm.

 

“I-I don’t know, I don’t know! I-It feels like it’s made of metal?? But I don’t know what... it...” Robin’s voice died off all of a sudden, trailing away like smoke in the wind. 

 

"Robin? Robin?!" Harry stood up, trying to feel and find him. He couldn't lose anyone else, he was too irrational to properly think or figure out what was wrong. "What is it? What do you see?"

 

Harry didn’t really get much of a response, other than a surprisingly comfortable-sounding hum a few paces away, approximately where he had heard Robin last. 

 

Confused but calmed by the sound, Harry walked over to Robin, setting his hands on his arms. "Robin? Are you feeling alright?"

 

Robin simply hummed in response, the duck not really moving (other than breathing, he was still doing that just fine) even as Harry put both hands on him. “Waiting...” 

 

"Waiting? For what?" Harry asked him, absolutely flabbergasted. "Do you see something strange?"

 

“Have to wait...” was all that Robin murmured, sounding completely out of it. It was hard to tell what was going on with him when the room was so dark. 

 

His heart strained at the sound of his voice, Harry leaning forward and trying to look at him better. "Are you alright? Robin? Can you hear me?"

 

Once his eyes properly adjusted to the light, Harry could see that there was a strange metal headband that was on Robin’s forehead, the very front of it covered in tunes and a single gemstone that glowed ever so slightly in the darkness. Not only that, but there was a thin piece of strangely-shaped glass in front of his eyes, as well as a pair of round metallic headphones covering the sides of his head (where a pair of ears would have been if he wasn’t a duck). 

 

There was another crash from across the room, Tony letting out a few profanities. “Damn it Sketch, you set it off!” He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the cluttered room. 

 

Harry gave a sharp gasp, his hands moving to the side of Robin's head and tapping on it. "Robin? Robin can you hear me? What are these strange symbols what are these strange things?" 

 

Sketch winced, sighing out. "I-I-I didn't mean to! I was just excited, I-I thought he'd be here? Where is he?!"

 

Robin simply hummed lazily in response, his expression blank and unchanging, even as Harry tried to get his attention. “Have to... Wait...” 

 

“I-I don’t know!” Tony exclaimed, trying to grab and shove off a headband that had appeared on his own head, finding it very difficult to move it at all. “Just- Do something before this thing activates! Find that talk-box he was using last time, see if you can reach him!” He yelped suddenly, the device finally having the chance to activate properly. “Otherwise we’re gonna be stuck here until he comes back! And I would rather than be a few hours from now, rather than a few... d-days...” 

 

"What's going on?" Harry tried to pull it up again, growling slightly. "Why are you being so strange? Robin, you-you're never this calm!" 

 

"Tony?" Sketch gently shook him, trying to comprehend this. "Wh-Where is the talk box? What's going on? Is that the device? Tony? Tony???"

 

The headband refused to budge, as if it was held down by some unseen weight. The gemstone suddenly began to flash a light red, and just as abruptly, Harry felt something appear on his head as well. 

 

“It’s by the... The cot.” Tony murmured, shaking his head as he tried to keep his focus, the metal of his body clanking about as Sketch shook him back and forth. “Find it, but don’t... touch anything...”

 

Harry yelped, quickly trying to pull it up and off. "It's stuck! D-Damn it!" He huffed, trying his best to attempt to escape. "What is going on?"

 

Sketch nodded, quickly darting off to attempt to find the cot and the talking box. "Where is it? Where could it be?"

 

There was a soft whirring sound as the headband activated, the gems and runes on its front glowing as a glass visor suddenly slid itself over Harry’s eyes, coupled with a pair of headphones that covered the sides of his head. The glass in front of him flickered for a moment before a moving image popped up on it: a strange blue spiral that spun around endlessly. It was paired with a voice that sounded from both sides of the headphones, speaking in a surprisingly gently but authoritative tone of voice. “Please trespasser, calm down and view the image in front of you.”

 

It took awhile before she was able to find it in the cluttered mess, as the cot itself was pressed in the far back corner of the room. 

 

Harry gasped, taking in the echoing color and finding himself mesmerized. "Wh...what is this...?" He tried to ask, barely able to even form that sentence from how relaxed he was becoming. 

 

Sketch made a bee-line for the area and once she found it, quickly began to rifle through. "Talk-box, talk-box, talk-box...!"

 

“This is a security protocol. Please, calm yourself and continue looking. We must wait for the proper authorization before we continue.” The voice spoke again, sounding completely monotonous, and maybe even bored.

 

It took her rifling through over a dozen different things before she finally managed to find the “talk-box,” a small rectangular device that resembled an oddly-shaped walkie talkie, with a deep green emerald set into the front of it. 

 

After she finally managed to find it, there was a sudden weight on her head as yet another headband appeared on her head, the runes on its front glowing softly.

 

Harry stared, his panic and confusion melting away into bliss as he emptily stared, his mind going blank. "Wait..." He echoed back, the blues hues sinking into his brain. 

 

"YES!" Sketch held it triumphantly, her smile still apparent as the helmet slammed onto her head. "Wh-no! I got the talk-box, leave me alone-!"

 

The headband on her head whirred and clicked, seemingly trying to activate properly now that it was situated. It seemed that Sketch had a very small window of opportunity to use the talk-box in her hand.

 

Sketch quickly pressed her thumb onto the emerald, speaking rapidly out of sheer panic. "C-Collin! Come back, quick! Ton and me came inside with friends and the alarm went off and now I have a band on my head and-!" 

 

The headband fully activated at that moment, the visor sliding into place and activating its own spiral, this one several different colors of the rainbow(excluding one particular hue, of course). The voice in her headband spoke, sounding the same as the one used in Harry's headband. "Please trespasser, calm down and view the image in front of you." 

 

Sketch let out a sharp gasp, the box dropping from her hand as she gazed in wonder. "Oooo, pretty~" It had only taken her an instant to forget all about the peril she and the others were in. 

 

"This is a security protocol. Please, calm yourself and continue looking. We must wait for the proper authorization to continue." The headband spoke, keeping the spiral running as it quickly became apparent that they all indeed were going to have to wait for Colin to get back before they could get help.

 

"Ghh..." Sketch tried to form more words before she simply gave up, her body leaning forward as she stared at the endless, beautiful rainbow. "Pretty...~"

 

***

 

"A promise is a promise, darlings." Shrignold couldn't help but beam, sliding over two baskets full of excess fruits onto the table. "Enjoy tonight's desert! You need all the nutrients you can get. Since you're so tuckered out, I'll even let you two take them up into the tree tonight. But no staying up late, alright?" 

 

Lily smiled sleepily as she held the basket in her arms, yawning tiredly and rubbing one of her eyes. "Mmm, alright..." She hummed sleepily, exhausted from all the work she had done to help Shrignold and Doi in the garden. They had spent the entire day picking apples, berries, oranges, and all sorts of other fruit. It was no wonder that she was so tired. The naga sleepily gave Shrignold a little wave before slowly moving back to her tree, using her tail to help tug Doi along back to the base of the large tree. 

 

Shrignold waved back, watching the half asleep boy in her coils move up with her and waited until they were safe and secure to once again clean up the mess they left behind and then move to the back of the garden, walking along a familiar path. The South West part of the garden was blocked off mostly by large, prickled bushes but the satyr merely pressed a finger to one of the leaves and they parted, allowing him to walk inside. "Now, let's see how things are faring back here..." 

 

He walked among the more dangerous part of the garden for nearly an hour, tending to the plants respectfully until something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. Was it... A light? All the way out here? 

 

"Hm?" Shrignold turned his attention to the strange light, noticing the hue didn't match any of the plants surrounding him. "What is that...?" He rose an eyebrow, treading over slowly. 

 

The closer he got, the more interesting it seemed to become, occasionally waving from side to side as if it was gently moved by a subtle breeze. What could it be...?

 

The satyr watched it move carefully, going onto his knees, right behind a rock as he continued to gaze, his hands reaching for it. "Something so lovely...how did you end up in here, hm?"

 

As he finally drew close enough, he was finally able to recognize what it was: a paper lantern was hanging from a tall wooden staff, with a dream catcher carefully tied to the bottom of it. It swung back and forth in the gentle breeze, glowing a soft, calming blue that seemed to radiate a wonderful aura of calmness. 

 

The blue coming from the lantern reflected back in Shrignold's eyes, the satyr sitting back onto the rock and watching it in content, a smile coming onto his face. "How lovely...I wouldn't mind...watching for awhile..."

 

The lantern continued to glow as Shrignold watched it, gently swaying from side to side. "Awhile" turned out to be much longer than the satyr must have intended. Nearly two hours passed, and he was still silently staring at its gentle, captivating glow that never seemed to waver.

 

There was the soft sound of leaves crunching, followed soon by a soft chuckle as Larry carefully bent down, gently brushing his hand against the dazed satyr's cheek. "Ah, there you are. Just the man I wanted to see." He hummed lazily, giving the other creature a soft, toothy smile.

 

Shrignold had been as still as ever, his pupils following the swaying object and nothing but a pleased hum escaping him at the touch. He mumbled something incoherent, more babbling than words as his half lidded gaze coupled with his lazy smile already said quite enough. The satyr didn't at all register Larry nor the two hours that had passed by already. 

 

"Do you like my lantern? I made it myself, you know." Larry purred, walking in a circle around the other creature before sitting down in front of him, right next to the lantern that so wonderfully captured the satyr's attention. The creature in front of Shrignold was very demonic in appearance, with light blue skin and a pair of horns that curved above his head. And yet, strangely, he was dressed in what looked like exceptionally comfortable pajamas. "I bet you just wanna stare at it forever and ever, huh?"

 

"Oh yes...forever and ever...~" Shrignold sighed out happily, leaning forward to be able to get a better look at it. He couldn't help but notice Larry and realize that the lantern was his. "It's lovely..." He tried to compliment but sounded far too dreamy to really have that kind of emotion. 

 

“Why thank you~” Larry purred, chuckling as his tail flicked from side to side, like a cat who had caught sight of something interesting. He carefully grabbed the wooden staff that was stuck in the ground, carefully yanking it out and holding it in front of himself, letting its gentle glow move closer to Shrignold’s face. “So cutie, do you have a name? Or should I just call you “cutie” for the rest of my little visit?” 

 

"Shrignold...that's my name." The satyr responded, one of his ears flicking as he became more lost in the hue. "Lovely...lighhhht..." His voice broke for a moment and he hardly able to handle the lovely display before him, his mouth parted open almost as if he were about to kiss someone. 

 

"Shrignold? Hm. Never heard that one before." Larry commented, chuckling softly. "Say Shrignold, I have a bit of a problem. Do you think you can help me real quick? I just need you to answer a question or two. It'll only take a moment." The demonic creature carefully swayed his staff from side to side, causing the glowing lantern to sway back and forth in slow, lethargic movements. 

 

"A-ny-thing..." Shrignold agreed to answer while his head followed the lantern's every sway, his body hunching over to get a better look. Larry could have asked him to do a cartwheel at this point and he would have happily done so. 

 

Nearby plants shifted and watched, a few small ones nearby tilting themselves as if they were watching the duo. The whole garden around them did this, moving and shifting some while they spent time together. 

 

"Good, goooood." Larry purred, chuckling. He was unaware that the foliage was shifting around them, the creature simply watching the satyr with an expectant, knowing smile. "Now, I've heard rumors that you happen to have a rare kind of flower around here, one that grows on ceilings and puts people to sleep. Do you think you can give me directions to where they might be?" 

 

"Of ccourse~ Dream flower..." Shrignold agreed, nodding lazily. "I cannn take you to...the mmnn...cave if youuu wannt...~" He offered in a half whisper, giggling after he spoke. 

 

Larry giggled as well, finding the other's goofy behavior somewhat endearing. "Oh, that would be splendid." He hummed, reaching one hand out and gently patting the satyr'a cheek. "Come on, hop up. Let's get a move on, while the night is still young."

 

Shrignold rose to both hooves, a little shaky for a moment before he was stable, letting out a small snort. "Weee have to gooo..." He then pointed the way Larry had snuck in, snickering. "Thhhat way!"

 

"Perfect." Larry hummed, grinning as he slowly floated into the air, holding the lantern a few feet in front of Shrignold with a cheeky grin. "Lead the way, my little pet. I'll be sure to reward you when we get there~"

 

Shrignold followed him, never missing a beat and completely ignoring most of the flowers nearby watching him move with every step. "Mmmm...reeewarddd...~" He nearly purred, his movements clunky as if he'd just learned to walk but he managed to leave the garden without stumbling too much or breaking eye contact with the pretty blue lantern. 

 

Larry kept close to Shrignold, floating in the air behind him while still holding the lantern in front of him, as if he were an animal being led along by a treat. After a few minutes of walking, he spoke softly, deciding to give a few more instructions. "Once we're within viewing distance of the cave, I want you to stop and point me towards it, Alright? I can take care of this next part myself." The demonic creature cooed. 

 

"Mhmmm~" Shrignold nodded, still moving forward until his ear flicked and he tilted towards it, leading them left. They walked through the trees, the satyr's eyes now nothing but sapphire reflecting orbs, totally lost in the light. "It's just up this way~ Caaan't miss it~ Mnn I thhought about tryinnng to go in but 'ssss too dangerousss!"

 

"I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle." Larry purred, moving his staff to the left so it would still be in front of the satyr, guiding him through his ever-deepening trance. "I mean, I managed to get in your garden, didn't I? That certainly wasn't an easy task." He snickered, his tail flicking about proudly.

 

"Nno, it's not..." Shrignold agreed, yawning softly as his eyes returned to the lantern. "Mnn...howw did you...?"

 

"You may have your defensive little plants on the ground, but you don't have much that can stop someone who can just fly over everything." Larry snickered cheekily, floating a bit higher as if to emphasize his point. "You might want to consider adding a big net over your garden."

 

"Net...there issss!" Shrignold nodded, not at all registering that he was being taunted at. "Bbutttt it only sstopss people that want to huuurtt the gardennn...mnn, you juuuust wantted...meeee...?" He tilted his head, trying to figure it out with his addled, entranced mind. 

 

"I wanted you so you could help me get some special little seeds. Those dream flowers are going to do wonders for my dinner plans. Do you know how hard it is to consistently find dreams to eat out here, where there's hardly any travelers?" Larry sighed dramatically, grinning at Shrignold's bemused expression. "I'm sure a couple of these will fix that problem in no time."

 

"Ohhh...that's good!" Shrignold decided, having no idea that if he were conscious he would have absolutely beaten Larry to a pulp right about now. "Mnn...per-so-na-lly, Iiiiii thhhink you shhhould've juuhht asked! I'mmm always hhappy to helpp out hanndsome strangers..." This sent him into a giggle fit, his currently blue shining eyes crossing for a moment. "Ssspecially ifff they call me ccute...~"

 

Larry chuckled, using one hand to tilt Shrignold's head up just a tad, the demon looking over the satyr's expression in amusement. "I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time I visit." He purred, floating down a bit to peck a quick kiss to the top of the other's forehead, just to see if he could get away with it while the other was completely out of it. 

 

Shrignold gasped, his cheeks turning purple before he swooned and let out a happy bleat, clearly more than pleased from the gesture. His little tail even perked up, having barely moved except to sway occasionally and the sight was rather cute indeed as the satyr stared back up at him, the reflection of his own eyes in Larry's keeping his attention peaked. 

 

Larry chuckled, his grin widening at the other's reaction. "Oh, you're very cute. I just might keep you after all this." He chuckled before sighing, floating back up and holding the lantern up again, deciding to refocus on the task at hand. "Hmm. Well, this has been fun, but I really do need to find these flowers. How much longer until we get to the cave?"

 

"A little whilleee up ahead~" Shrignold sweetly replied, his eyes refocusing right back onto the object. "Just a fewww minutes of walking...thennn the flowerr thennnkeep me..."

 

"Very good." Larry hummed, patting him on the head. "Lead the way. Remember, there's a wonderful reward waiting for you when we're done~"

 

"Reward~!" Shrignold chimed back, the satyr stumbling forward and walking past several trees until they finally reached a small cave perfectly suited for a bear, a faint purple glow emitting from it. "Hhheere we are~"

 

"There we go." Larry cooed, pleased that they had finally made it to the small cavern. He gently floated back down to the ground, giving Shrignold another pat on the head. "I think I'll take care of this next part myself. Meanwhile you-" The creature held the lantern in front of him again, waving it from side to side to catch his attention. "-are gonna head back to the safe part of the garden, m'kay? Take a nice long nap, and wait for me to get back." He instructed, petting his head the whole while.

 

Shrignold diligently followed the lantern with his whole head, the stupid smile on his face only widening. "Head back to the ssaaafe part 'nnn nap...thennn wait...mmmmm'kay~" He yawned, turning around and began his drunken descent back home. "Byeee byeeee~"

 

Larry chuckled, slinging his staff over his shoulders with a satisfied smirk as he waved at the Satyr. "Bye cutie! I'll see you later!" He called, chuckling. He then promptly turned around, strutting into the cave with his eyes directed towards the ceiling as if he owned the place.

 

Shrignold walked all the way back alone, tumbling into the South Western part as it was the easier gate. "Ssaafe part's just through heeeere..." He mumbled to himself, not seeing the plants take notice, looking him over and watching him stumble through with nary a care in the world. Once he escaped, a few vines extended behind him, slithering past as he promptly fell into a flowerbed, going right to sleep. 

 

Larry, meanwhile, strutted right up to the side of one of the large flowers in the cave, setting his staff on the ground while pulling a dull knife out of his pocket. "Alright. Now to find those pesky seeds." He hummed, floating up to the ceiling, carefully pulling back one of the petals in search of the little seeds. 

 

The dream flower itself shined brightly, bits of pollen floating down as it sensed a presence, unaware that it's enemy was currently out of reach. 

 

Larry took great care not to breath in the pollen, holding his breath as he held up his knife, carefully cutting a small slit in the side of the plant, revealing a small chamber filled with dozens and dozens of glowing violet seeds. "There we go. Easy as pie." He purred cockily, cheekily pocketing his little knife.

 

The plant he'd cut into then withered, the glowing becoming faint as it wilted, dying from the severe wound it had suffered. The last of it's pollen fell to the ground, the air much safer for Larry to breathe in with it vanquished. 

 

"There we go." Larry purred, carefully putting his collected seeds into a small bag. He grinned as he hopped down, landing on the floor of the cavern with a small puff, scattering the pollen that had drifted to the ground into the air, nearby a few of the remaining dream flowers. "That was almost too easy." He chuckled, putting the tiny bag back into his satchel. 

 

The remaining flowers released pollen sensing the loud sound and the scattered pollen, the whole cave suddenly filling up with it. If he didn't leave soon, that could most certainly be problematic. 

 

Larry yelped in surprise, his cocky demeanor quickly disappearing as a puff of pollen shot right into his face. He coughed loudly, frantically stumbling towards the exit of the cavern. "Shit, no, shit-!" 

 

The flowers all promptly shut, suddenly building up to be able to release a large blast. If he didn't escape soon, he wouldn't have a chance to do so for awhile. 

 

"No no no!" Larry yelped, pausing at the exit when he realized he had forgotten his staff and his lantern. He let out a long, frustrated screech, hurrying back inside and grabbing his belongings before turning around on a dime and sprinting back, only to stumble and trip halfway.

 

There was a huge release of pollen once he fell, sprinkling down the entire cave in a beautiful display reminiscent of several fireworks going off at once. It coated the entire cave, all of the flowers within sharing their pollen in sync.

 

Larry coughed and coughed as the purple pollen sprinkled down on him, the blonde's panicked hyperventilating gradually slowing the more he breathed in. "N-No, I... Nnn..." He shuddered, his eyes fluttering as he slowly directed his gaze up towards the ceiling. 

 

Vibrant purple light came down from above, shining down as all of them attempted to capture his attention first, desperate for the first source of food in quite some time. 

 

Larry let out a soft gasp, the blonde slowly standing up off of the ground, his gaze settling on one particularly bright flower in the center of the cavern. He practically purred as he slowly trudged forward, stopping only when he was directly underneath it, his staff forgotten on the ground a few paces away. “So... Preeeetty...~”

 

The violet tinted light continued to shine down on him, trying to lure him in even more. The pollen came down right onto his nose, trying to have him continue to breathe it in and fall asleep. 

 

Larry’s eyes fluttered, his irises beginning to glow a light lavender as he stared up into the dream flower. He took a slow, deep breath, the blonde yawning as the fuzzy feeling of sleepiness began to fill his thoughts. “Pretty... Preeeeetty...” He cooed, his eyes shutting for a minute in a long blink, only to open again, his current desire to look at the flower outweighing his desire for sleep.

 

The light flashed, pulsating to try and signal his brain to shut down and sleep in order to feed. Other flowers attempted to do the same to lure him towards them, just as hungry as their lucky counterpart. 

 

Larry let out a soft groan as he fought to keep his eyes open, but it was apparent he was fighting a loosing battle. The creature yawned, falling asleep right then and there. He fell limp, but didn’t drop to the ground, instead slowly floating in the air a few inches above the cavern floor, hovering in place right below the lucky dream flower, snoring softly. 

 

The flower continued to pulse, happily devouring his dreams as pollen flew into the air, coating the area more and more. It would be a challenge to anyone to try and go inside without breathing in far too much to escape. 

 

Larry just continued to sleep, deeply breathing in the constant cloud of pollen, unaware of anything that was happening around himself anymore. 

 

***

 

The Inventor's Convention a whole town over was an interesting experience until he got the odd call. Having to go through the forest, weapons in hand and head back to his location as fast as he could was a headache for Collin but still, he did it knowing just how bad it could be if he didn't return home soon. Once he reached the workshop and came down, he immediately pressed a button to have the lights come on, sighing out. "Oh, how bad could it be?" He tried to reassure himself, having stressed out the whole time he'd traveled home.

 

The lifts came on to reveal that a large portion of his workshop looked absolutely trashed, as the individuals who had been stumbling around in the dark made quite the mess in their previous panic.

 

From where Colin was standing, he could see all four of them standing around in different places in the room, each of them wearing one of the headsets he had designed for security purposes. They were all completely out of it, not even noticing the lights coming on, or even the new individual who came into the room.

 

Collin quietly cursed at the state of his shop and then cursed louder at the 4 people in an absolute daze. "I go for one week and I come back to this mess. Oh," He sighed, moving to his table and pressing a few buttons to release each of them from the system. "Alright, alright, let's get some answers. Then I can make them clean up this place. My poor little digital space..." 

 

Each of the headbands hissed before popping off of everyone’s heads, clattering to the ground with a series of clatters and clanks.

 

Robin blinked, groaning as he slowly reached his hand up to his face, rubbing his temples. “Gods... What? What happened??” He murmured softly, looking around uncertainly.

 

Tony shook his head as soon as the device was off of his head, the mechanical man swearing as he kicked the headband away, a large puff of steam escaping from the pipes on his back. “Bloody- H-How long was I stuck there?!” He yelped, backing away from where he had been standing. 

 

"You've been in here for 4 days." Collin slid over a large bag full of food he'd gotten in the city. "You all must be starving, I'm absolutely not surprised. Please, eat as much as you'd like."

 

Harry blinked back into existence, sighing out. "What...was that? Why do I feel so strange...?" He held his head, attempting to understand what was going on. 

 

Sketch nearly fell down, falling onto her side before she snorted awake. "What?! Oh, not again!"

 

“Four days? What??” Robin murmured, before the sound of the food quickly caught his attention, the duck finally noticing his own intense hunger. “Oh thank the stars.” He murmured softly before practically tackling the bag in his desperation, frantically pulling out whatever food was available.

 

“Four days, five hours, and twenty six minutes.” Tony clarified with a huff, standing stiffly as he glared at Colin. “What took you so bloody long??”

 

A few apples, oranges and carrots, breads and candies had been piled up into there and Harry immediately joined him, sliding an apple into his hair and the fruit quickly disappearing. It was an absolute testament to how hungry he was, he never ate in front of other people, not even his son or partner. 

 

Collin rubbed his head, his fingers rubbing his temple. "I-I-I'm sorry, I was a whole town over! Then I had to fight a bunch of things off and try and get here as soon as possible!"

 

Robin grabbed several rolls and a multitude of the carrots and oranges, hungrily devouring them like a starving animal... Which he was, in a way.

 

“God, if I wasn’t so rusted up, I would slap you right now.” Tony huffed, sharply pointing at Colin, only for his arm to completely lock up in that position. “Wha- N-No! Not again!” He exclaimed frantically as a few other parts of his body locked up as well. 

 

Harry nearly swallowed down half of the things he had grabbed before he sighed in satisfaction. "It does feel like we haven't eaten in weeks..." 

 

Collin couldn't help but stifle a chuckle, walking over and holding his arm. "Stop moving. You're locking yourself into place more. Let me take you to the table and help you. Where were you anyways?" 

 

Robin gasped as he finally finished eating the last of his food, breathing heavily to catch his breath after eating so much. “Were we... Really stuck here for four days??” Robin murmured, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “It feels like we’ve only been here for a few minutes...”

 

“I got stuck in the forest after Sketch put something in my fuel.” Tony grumbled, sighing as he relaxed, holding still for the other.

 

"I agree but I've never been that hungry before and nothing else makes enough sense to me." Harry sighed out, holding his stomach. 

 

Collin pulled him over to the table, setting him down with a tsk. "Your gears rusted down nearly to the core. You need some replacement and repairs and I could help you but it'd take me another day at least."

 

Robin just sighed, slowly leaning back against the wall as he put his hand on his own stomach. “I hope nothing like that ever happens again. That felt so weird.” He murmured, shuddering.

 

“I don’t know if we have a day.” Tony murmured as Colin laid him down on the table. “The duck and the monster, they’re looking for a kid who’s been lost for about seven days and six hours now. A whole week in this god forsaken forest, alone? I mean, the probability of him surviving is getting lower with every passing minute.” 

 

"It did feel odd." Harry kept trying to blink and comprehend what had even happened to him. 

 

Collin tsked, biting his lip. "I mean, it isn't apparent where he went? Sketch hardly leaves her area because of her minimalistic life style and the closest threat to there is Shrignold. Especially if he vanished during the day because if it was at night, the only threat would've been those Shadow Gremlins and he would have come back possessed." 

 

Robin shuddered, leaning his head on Harry’s shoulder, his own fuzzy, blurry memories of he past couple of days greatly disturbing him.

 

“Jeez, not all of us can come to those bloody conclusions like you can.” Tony snapped, sighing loudly through his nose. “Besides, you said so yourself, my body is pretty much eighty percent rusty gears at this point. There’s no way I would’ve been much help actually finding him.”

 

Harry held him again, rubbing his arm. "What do you want to do when we get to Riverdale?" He suddenly asked, trying to be a little more upbeat than he usually was. 

 

"True, true." Collin noted, his cheeks having a tint of pink. "An extra day would most certainly be needed to find him and I firmly believe he can afford him. Shrignold has been known to keep children on multiple occasions, his obsession with finding an heir to the garden knows no bounds. Beyond that, he views himself as a fatherly figure. Half the reason I was able to have a conversation with him was me discussing my ongoing work on Gilbert." 

 

"Well... The first thing I want to do is get a nice treat. Something warm and chocolaty." The duck hummed, relaxing a bit as Harry rubbed his arm.

 

"Gilbert? That's new." Tony murmured, somewhat interested. "Is that some new project you started in the last four months? I've kind of been out of commission for awhile."

 

"Buy a few chunks of chocolate in town, melt them with some milk over the fire and sit by it at night?" Harry suggested, trying to think of something romantic Robin would read in one of his books.

 

"Oh yes! I forgot you haven't seen him! Sketch has on a few visits." Collin grinned, running off from the table to go over to the cot, passing by Sketch playing with some of his tools and coming back holding a small figure. It appeared to be a child made of clay, the eyes and mouth shut with a large, tattered shirt on and a fair blonde wig sown to it's head. "Tony, Gilbert. Gilbert, Tony." He introduced, holding the clay child close enough so Tony could see him. 

 

"Precisely." Robin hummed, sighing comfortably. "But we're going to need to make a house before we do that. Something nice, something cozy, something roomy." 

 

"You. You made a *golem*??" Tony murmured in surprise, staring at the strange clay child in fascination. "Wha- How?? The magic to make hem hasn't been around for hundreds of years!"

 

"Buy some furniture, make some fixtures. Maybe invest in those wool blankets you wanted." Harry offered, trying to keep the other calm. 

 

"Turns out you just have to know where to look." Collin hummed, holding the child with care and easing him onto the table beside Tony. "I did made a few modifications in order to make sure he'd function better than the golems of old. A few crystals within for different skills and magick use, the wig for aesthetics and a skeletal frame. It's actually made out of some of your old material. One could say he's a little of you." He shrugged, trying to hide the red on his cheeks. 

 

"Oh! We could grow those raspberry bushes you've always wanted to have." Robin hummed. "And we could buy some new chickens, maybe a dairy cow. We'd also need wheat seeds, for when we eventually start farming again."

 

Tony stared at Gilbert for a long moment, a surprisingly soft expression growing on his features. "He looks wonderful... Goodness. I disappear for a couple months and you build a son." The mechanical man chuckled. "You really don't have any sort of impulse control, huh?" 

 

"I do love raspberries." Harry confessed, chuckling softly. "Farming...we ought to have that bit of poppies in the front. They're Doi's favorite." 

 

Collin laughed, straightening his glasses. "What can I say? I missed your company. And I've always been set on making a golem, I searched for quite a long time. Had the spare clay, read the stories when I was young. I'm glad you like him. Ostara will come in a week, thus the full moon and then he'll be up and walking if all goes right. I was hoping you'd um. Accompany me. For assistance, of course." 

 

"Absolutely! Doi would love that..." Robin chuckled, before falling silent again, his expression falling ever so slightly.

 

"Of course I'll accompany you. I wouldn't miss seeing this for the world. I mean, you? Making the first golem in hundreds of years?" Tony snorted, giving the inventor a grin. 

 

"He will love it." Harry corrected in a quiet voice, holding his shoulder. "And we'll love everything else. And him." 

 

Collin huffed, rolling his eyes. "Of course you'd come to make sure you could laugh if it all went wrong. I can't believe you got Sketch's mess in your fuel. And that I never took that into account but more so that it even happened it all. How did you fall for that?"

 

Robin slowly nodded, sniffling as he hugged Harry again, absently nuzzling the other. 

 

Tony sighed, gesturing to a panel on his chest. “She got me when I was recharging the magic in my moonstone. She switched out my fuel for some of her gunk while I was out.” 

 

"...maybe we could get properly hitched." Harry mumbled, holding him still. "We skipped it all because we couldn't afford it but perhaps Sketch could give us something when it's safe and we could...do more." 

 

Collin tsked, pressing onto it. "I have more charged crystals than a proper mystic's shop if you need mew ones. I can't believe you all sat here for 4 days and you sat in the forest for 4 months, that could've had disastrous results. Especially if any of those damn goblins got to messing with you."

 

“Harry, he’s only eight.” Robin snorted, looking up at the other with a snort. “There’s plenty of time for him to find that out on his own.”

 

“Luckily they didn’t.” Tony sighed, shuddering. “Ugh, if goblins had found me, I definitely wouldn’t be here. They would’ve torn me apart to find anything shiny in my insides.”

 

"No-No, I meant-" Harry suddenly stumbled, looking embarrassed even without his face properly exposed. "I meant us." He blurted, finally spitting it out. 

 

"I'd've burnt them to a crisp." Collin curtly replied, his eyes narrowed. "You're a scientific marvel, I cannot have you getting torn about by savage little gremlins."

 

“Oh... *Oh.*” Robin murmured, the skin behind his feathers turning a bright red as he realized what the other meant. “I-I am so sorry, that totally went over my head.”

 

“So you’ve told me every time I’ve ever laid down on this cot.” Tony snorted, grinning up at Colin.

 

"It's fine. I know I said we should just stay small before but uh. I think you deserve more. And so does Doi. And uh. I-I don't want to just treat you two like a job a-anymore? I love. You. So." Harry cleared his throat, looking away. It was rare he'd ever be so vulnerable or open but the dragon attack had shaken him. 

 

Collin slid open the panel, a smile on his face. "I'm a scientist. I observe and I state things as they are or I discover otherwise. You've yet to prove to me you're nothing short of a wonder." He then bent down to take a look, his hands slipping inside. "Except your horrendous attitude. Whoever built you ought to get right on that." 

 

Robin smiled softly, chuckling a bit before he carefully parted some of Harry’s hair, pressing a kiss to the other’s cheek. “I love you too, honey. And I agree! When this is all over, we should definitely get properly married.”

 

“Colin, we’ve talked about this before.” Tony snorted, looking up at him with a slight smirk. “I don’t *know* who built me. All I know is that one day I woke up in that old workshop, and that’s where I’ve been ever-“

 

“Oh thank the *Gods!* About time someone opened this bloody thing!” A tiny voice sounded as a little pixie flew up from the now open panel in Tony’s chest, coughing softly as they flitted about in the air. The tiny green creature was wearing a dress made from old, wilting leaves, and a hat that looked like it was once the top of an acorn. The fae huffed, putting her tiny hands on her hips as she got right up into Colin’s face. “Do you know how *long* I’ve been in there? I mean, I try to find shelter from the rain and then get stuck in this bloody sentient contraption for a *week.* Ugh, It was *maddening!*” 

 

The little bit of pale skin exposed soon turned red, Harry giving a small exhale. "Doi will definetly be excited for that." 

 

Collin gasped, quickly backing up. "Who are you? Why would a fae try and stay in an automaton man for rain shelter when you could just use a leaf???"

 

Robin chuckled, pressing another kiss to Harry’s cheek before he finally glanced over towards Colin and Tony, noticing the slight commotion that seemed to be forming. 

 

“Because metal doesn’t spill water on you when it gets too much rain on it, dummy!” The pixie huffed, sharply knocking on Colin’s forehead in a rather rude manner, before flirting back a bit and crossing her arms with a pout. “And the name’s Stacy. Who exactly are you supposed to be, some nerd who’s late to a convention?” 

 

Harry hummed, tilting his head at the odd sight. "Is that a faerie??" 

 

Collin let out a yelp, rubbing his head. "For your information, I attended the convention on time! Rude little faerie. And metal rusts, so that's even less valid! Of course you'd be trapped!"

 

Robin immediately tensed and let out a shriek, practically diving behind Harry. “No, not faeries! Not again!”

 

Stacy only burst into laughter at that, the pixie practically doing somersaults in the air from her absolute mirth. She eventually calmed, sighing as she crossed her arms. “Oh wow, you *are* a nerd! And not all metal rusts, silly. Copper doesn’t. And neither does brass.” She said in a matter-of fact tone of voice, giving Colin a big old smirk on her tiny face.

 

Harry held onto him from behind. "Oh, Robin, no, I don't think she's going after us-" 

 

"Ah yes. Copper and Brass, they look just like his shining silver chest. How could I have been mistaken?" Collin deadpanned, his eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you want but honestly, no one is holding you back, you're absolutely free to go anytime."

 

Robin just shook his head frantically, hiding even further behind Harry. “No! I am not dealing with faeries again, not after what happened last time-!”

 

Stacy sighed, rolling her eyes. “Wow okay, so you obviously don’t know.” She huffed, fluttering down and sitting on top of Colin’s head, arms still crossed. “When you save a pixie from getting trapped, we have to repay you by doing something nice or whatever. I think it’s kind of stupid, but rules are rules.” 

 

"Robin." Harry held onto his shoulders. "Maybe she could help us find Doi?" 

 

Collin blinked several times. "Oh. Well, uh. Hm." He put his hand to his chin. "Not much is known about your kind so I wasn't sure if that was a stereotype or a cultural fact. And I'm not sure what on earth I'd currently need assistance with..."

 

“M-M-Maybe?” Robin murmured, staring at Stacy from across the room, looking more terrified than he had ever been, even when the dragon had attacked. “Or maybe they’ll turn us all into bloody farm animals-!”

 

“And I can’t leave your side until you come up with something, so I guess I’m stuck with you.” Stacy sighed, groaning as she flopped back onto Colin’s head dramatically. 

 

"Robin." Harry gently shook him to grab his attention. "What happened? What farm animals?" 

 

Sketch walked over with a big, eager grin. "Finally, another girl around here! Hi, I'm Sketch and as a witch, I'm sure we'll get along swimmingly!"

 

Robin froze up like a deer in the headlights, the duck swearing softly as he hid his face in Harry’s side. “I-It’s nothing! Forget I said anything!”

 

“A witch?” Stacy immediately shot up, grinning widely as she flitted off of Colin’s head, sitting herself on Sketch’s hat. She bent over the edge, grinning down at her eagerly. “If you’re a witch, then what kind of magic can you do?” She asked curiously, her wings flapping a bit as she waited for an answer. 

 

"No, no, you've started and until you tell me you'll keep muttering about it and it'll drive you mad and we can't get Doi if you're paranoid about everything being faeries." Harry shook his head, dropping his hands to the other's hips. "Please?" 

 

"All sorts! My best is potion making." Sketch grinned, holding her hands to her hips. "I'm an eclectic, lone wolf kind of witch! Doin' what feels right, especially trying a bunch of stuff! I make cool elixirs all the time!" 

Robin whined for a bit, staying quiet for a long while before eventually working up the courage to speak, emboldened by the other’s supportive attitude. “I... I wasn’t always like this... Like a duck.” Robin admitted, sheepishly looking away from Harry.

 

“Potions, huh...?” Stacy purred, grinning cheekily. “Mind if I see some? I would love to see the results of your work.” 

 

"Oh." Harry looked surprised, his posture slightly straightened out. "What happened involved faeries?" 

 

Sketch took one out from a side pouch, putting it next to Stacey on her head with a grin. "Ta-da! My latest creation! A Love Potion!"

 

“I... I got cursed. A long time ago.” Robin murmured, sniffling. “I went wandering out into the woods one night against my mother’s wishes because I was frustrated with... something. I don’t even remember what.” The duck rubbed one of his eyes, taking a long, deep breath. “I got lost, and a group of faeries found me. They tried to make me eat their food, but I knew better. And when I didn’t eat, they turned me into... Well, a duck.“ 

 

“A love potion??” Stacy murmured in interest, grinning as she moved closer to the bottle, inspecting the potion closely. 

 

"Oh, Robin..." Harry didn't even know what to say, holding him closer. "Were you human before?" 

 

Sketch nodded, her eyes sparkling. "Why yes! It should make anyone fall head over heels in love with the next person they see!"

 

“I was...” Robin murmured, pressing himself closer to Harry. “I-I didn’t want you to know because I thought it would’ve scared you off if you knew I was... cursed.”

 

Stacy grinned, obviously excited with what was in front of her. “Ooo, that sounds cool!” She chirped, giggling. 

 

"Of course it wouldn't." Harry shook his head, holding him closer again. "I'm not all that frightened of curses. And you've never brought me any bad luck." 

 

"You can use it if you want!" Sketch clapped her hands together. "If you like anybody, I mean. Or want to help them like you?"

 

Robin hummed, tightly hugging Harry as he pulled him ever closer in their embrace. “Mmm... You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that.” He sighed, smiling.

 

“I’d love to use it!” Stacy chirped, chuckling. She fluttered up to the top of the bottle, carefully picking it up... Only to put it back down a moment later. “Or... Maybe not. It’s a little heavy.”

 

Harry held him again, nuzzling him briefly. "Are you starting to feel a little bit better?" 

 

"I can help you too!" Sketch offered, her eyes shining. "I've never met a faerie before! I'm excited!" 

 

“Yeah... A little.” Robin murmured. “... But I still think we should steer clear of that pixie.”

 

“You haven’t? Well, that’s a shame! We’re very lovely company.” Stacy hummed, bending over the brim of Sketch’s hat again. “... Also, out of curiosity’s sake, what kind of rumors have you heard about faeries??”

 

"Alright. But if we know she can help save Doi, we have to take her into account." Harry continued to hold him, sighing out. 

 

Sketch thought about it, humming. "They're cool, rare magickal creatures with little shoes who like shiny things and I think also have tiny hats! And live in a magical world most people can't get to and maybe steal babies? Or is that brownies..."

 

”Fine.” Robin sighed as he slowly stood up. “Come on, let’s remind them that we need help. I think they’ve all gone and distracted themselves again.”

 

“No, changlings are the ones who steal babies.” Stacy hummed, smirking ever so slightly before changing her expression to a grin. “Hey, do you want something to eat? I can make you something veeeeery tasty... If you’re hungry, that is.”

 

Tony huffed from the cot, sitting up and glaring at the pixie. “Sketch, don’t take up that offer. Faeries curse people who eat their food.” 

 

Stacey shot Tony a glare in return, blowing a big raspberry at him. “Aw, boo! You’re no fun!”

 

Harry followed him with a sigh, staying as close to Robin as he could. "Honestly, with this lot? I'm not surprised."

 

Sketch let out a gasp of shock, her hand to her chest. "You tried to curse me? I thought we were friends! That's awfully rude to do to a friend!"

 

Robin didn't leave Harry's side, finding comfort in staying near him as they moved to be next to the others.

 

"I'm a fae. Of *course* I'm gonna try to curse you." Stacy snorted, sticking her tongue out at Sketch. "How else would I get you to stay with me??"

 

Harry heard the word stay and found himself sliding Robin behind him protectively, clearing his throat to be heard. 

 

"I dunno...I think parties are cool..." Sketch sulked, obviously hurt from the trick that had almost been played on her, going quiet for once at someone's request. 

 

Stacy just huffed, glancing over at Harry as he tried to catch everyone's attention. "And what are *you* supposed to be?" She spat, crossing her arms as she flitted into the air.

 

"I'm supposed to be trying to find my son." Harry crossed his arms, speaking louder than he usually did. "In fact, at least two people in this room owe us that favor. We came here to get a map and some help and every second we waste is my eight year old boy being lost alone in the woods or in the hold of something or someone he shouldn't be in." 

 

The others in the room fell silent, giving each other awkward glances as Harry told them off.

 

"Look, I told you, we'll help you find your kid as soon as Colin fixes up my gears enough so I don't have to worry about freezing up." Tony sighed. "I won't be much help if I end up just being a big rusty statue, now can I?"

 

"His name is Doi." Harry corrected, standing up slightly straighter. "And while I do know that's necessary, I'd also appreciate a map so we can know the area. We only stepped in here 1-no, I'm sorry, 5 days ago. A week ago we still had a house and a farm and a cart and our son." He huffed, giving them all each a Dad Stare. 

 

Collin immediately looked guilty, moving to the side. "Oh, I'm-I'm sorry, uh, here-" He quickly handed him a small scroll. "It's a map made by the recent Gilbert Fredrikson, I-I'm going to name my own son after him and uh," The inventor quietly shuffled back over to Tony, clearing his throat. "I'm getting to helping him right now. Uh. Sir." 

 

Stacy tilted her head to one side, frowning as she simply sighed, flying onto Colin's shoulder and sitting herself down on it. "Alright, I'm bored. Have you thought on what you need help with yet?" The pixie asked. 

 

Tony nodded, sighing softly as he laid his head down on the cot, glancing up at Colin. "Do you want me to shut myself off? To make this easier for you?"

 

"Mmm...what kind of magick can you perform? Healing, tracking? ...pleasantries that don't curse people?" Collin asked the fae before he registered what Tony had said. "It'll make reaching the gears easier and you tend to be much more still. So yes. But, it shouldn't take a day if I really pour myself into this. Um." He felt a little conflicted but decided to sigh and nod. "Yes. Please." 

 

"I can do lots of stuff! I can make plants grow faster, I can make things glow, I can make people see scary things..." Stacy listed off, counting every instance of magic on her little fingers. "Curses are my specialty, but since you don't want those, We'll just have to stick with the basic stuff." 

 

Tony nodding, sighing as he slowly rested his head back down on the cot. There was a slight wiring sound before he simply stopped moving entirely, the sound of whirring gears that typically came from him completely stopping altogether. 

 

Collin listened to the fae, frowning at the sound of silence that came from the automaton beneath him. "I always hate seeing him like this. Uh-" He then blinked a few times, turning to Stacy as he went through his panel, taking out gears that had to be replaced. "What's the most pleasant thing you can do? You know, more sweet and fairytale like? I don't mean to be typical but anything a little mood lifting?" 

 

"... I can make bubbles." Stacy eventually murmured, rolling her eyes as she waved her hand, sending a few pink and purple bubbles into the air as an example. "They're supposed to smell like flowers and nature stuff when they pop." 

 

"Hm. That's kind of nice." Collin hummed in agreement. "I don't want to waste your powers when we're probably going to need them going up against Shrignold but I always hate having company over and having the mood here be as dreary as possible. Everyone could use a bit of cheering up right about now." He grunted taking out the final rusted gear and gasped watching it disintegrate. 

 

"Oh, you want me to cheer everyone up? Why didn't you just say so?" Stacy snorted, flitting up into the air. "I can make people happy using my pixie dust, if that's what you're after!" 

 

"Oh, ah, yes!" Collin nodded, his own eyes lighting up some. "That would be perfect! Go and um, spread a bit of cheer amongst the others pretty please."

 

Stacy grinned, giggling loudly before speeding away, the sound of a soft wind chime being made as she flew off. 


End file.
